So also do people judge others, first by their physical appearance before they consider their character. Most times, the attitude is, “be beautiful or get lost”. And this attitude, undeniably, affects relationships and its outputs in diverse ways.
In trying to explain this attitude, the blame game identified the media and celebrities as the culprits fuelling the beauty syndrome. But an objective view of the matter will reveal that the media and celebrities; who, by the way, aren’t the only party involved, only make use of their knowledge of human psychology to meet their financial goals. And this throws the blame to every one of us.
However, should any individual be blamed for desiring beauty, attractiveness, or perhaps, perfection?
Isn’t it an innate characteristic of humans to desire that which is good?
For as it is today, one may be forced to exclaim, “Beauty is everything!” because it has been said to have delivered many from the products of their character and ability deficiencies.
It has been seen to affect how a person is valued, thus treated.
Beauty has also afforded many the opportunities to pursue their dreams, and has been made the basic requirement for certain positions; which then means that not fitting into the “beauty” mold, downrightly disqualifies one from certain jobs, irrespective of abilities.
Apart from these, one can only imagine the internal struggles of those who are dissatisfied with their physical looks; by reason of a physical deformity or slight abnormality or aging, or just sheer preference for a certain kind of look.
Fortunately, for us all, solution providers in the beauty sector, globally, are constantly producing innovative products to meet people’s beauty needs; from skin care, to makeup, to hair, and to plastic surgery.
These beauty solutions have all been controversial at some point, but right now, the focus of controversy, of a greater part of the population, is plastic surgery. And of the two parties to the debate, the one with the loudest voice, at least in Nigeria, appears to be the party against the concept.
Understandably, this is an expected reaction, considering the strong hold of nature, culture and religion on the average African.
Yet, even though, the religious standpoint, which believes that we should not “play God”, is at play, fear of the risk involved in the procedure and the shame of being termed a fraud seems to be other popular reasons people, who want and can afford plastic surgery, do not get it done.
However, religion, risk, and others’ opinion haven’t been able to stop some people from taking advantage of plastic surgery to achieve what they judge as the beautiful look.
And, younger and younger people are getting their body enhanced and the men are not left out, too.
Gradually, the concept is gravitating towards being regarded as regular maintenance, as against the narcissistic indulgence tag some people have pinned on it.
And somehow, the idea of beauty and personal upkeep is fast becoming a continuum, with weaves and acrylic nails on one end and plastic surgery on the other, as some people believe that if you have no reservations about colouring your hair with chemical dyes when it turns gray, then you shouldn’t have a problem taking advantage of anti-aging treatments for your face.
With procedures like, liposuction, breast augmentation/ reduction and lift, tummy tuck, arm lift, thigh lift, butt augmentation, eyelash enhancement, ear surgery, facial implants, having become beauty solutions, there seems to be no limit to how far one can go to fit into the “beauty” mold.
And with minimally-invasive procedures like Botox, soft tissue fillers, and laser treatments coming into the picture, more and more people are popping into their doctor’s office during lunch break to acquire beauty, so one couldn’t tell who and who have had their looks enhanced.
In all indication, plastic surgery is here to stay and it looks like what we are seeing right now is just the produce of its infancy, and the human thirst for beauty (even perfection), is yet to experience the outcome of its influence.
Now, how far are you willing to go for beauty?
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