You see it all the time. Girls struggle
every day with the message that they're
only beautiful if their bodies fit the
narrow image the media says is "perfect."
Seventy-five percent of girls say they
would like surgery to change their bodies
to look more like the girls and women
they see in magazines, in movies, and
on TV.
Most people have surgery to stay healthy.
But people have plastic surgery, or cosmetic
surgery, just to change how they look.
Plastic surgery can help accident victims
look like they did before the accidents.
But healthy people get plastic surgery
because they aren't happy with the way
their bodies or faces look naturally.
In 1998, almost 25,000 girls under eighteen
had plastic surgery in the U.S., and that
number keeps rising.
Most teenage girls who have plastic surgery
want to change the shape of their noses
or have fat removed from their bodies,
even though it's natural to have a healthy
layer of fat beneath your skin. Other
girls want to have sacks of gel, known
as implants, sewn into their breasts to
make them larger. These surgeries cost
between $2,000 and $9,000. That's enough
money for a car or a vacation!
Plastic surgery may seem like a good way
to raise a girl's self-esteem, but it's
dangerous. Reshaping the nose can leave
it swollen for up to a year. Breast implants
can explode or leak inside a girl's body,
which means she has to have another surgery
to take the implants out. And liposuction,
the surgical vacuuming of fat from underneath
the skin, sends patients into shock if
they lose too much blood. Even successful
liposuction won't keep you thin forever.
It's much better to exercise and eat a
healthy diet, which will keep you looking
healthy and feeling good.
It can be hard to look at an image in
a magazine and then compare it to your
own body, but remember that those magazines
target our insecurities to get us to buy
something or do something to feel "beautiful."
You don't need to dish out the money for
anything, including surgery, to be beautiful.
All you have to do is be yourself.
Does plastic surgery gross you out?
Help stop negative messages that can lead
girls to go under the knife:
1. Pick up a magazine. Jot down notes
about what the articles and advertisements
say about how girls should be. Decide
whether or not you agree with these messages.
Share your discoveries with your friends.
2. Write letters to compliment companies,
authors, or movie directors when you like
the way they portray girls and women.
Write letters to complain when you don't
like the way they portray girls and women.
3. When you hear people speaking badly
about themselves or their bodies, remind
them of the things that make them truly
beautiful.
4. Most importantly, love yourself-there's
only one you! When you look in the mirror,
smile, tell yourself you're beautiful,
and believe it!
