Is Plastic Surgery Okay?

South Korea has long been the world’s pioneer of plastic surgery. The obsession with plastic surgery amongst Koreans has even been noted in an article on Business Week. Even more surprising, the news report claimed that plastic surgery has improved and elevated South Korean tourism. This gives evidence of how the moral quandary of plastic surgery in western countries is different from the east, in this case South Korea. So what makes plastic surgery an unaccepted practice for most westerners but okay for Koreans? Here’re my thoughts of this subject matter.

In a recent research on human behaviorism, it was found that people have a more positive attitude to those who are more attractive.  An experiment conducted in an elementary school suggested that teachers view aggressive acts as less naughty when performed by an attractive child. Teachers also presume children who are better looking to be more intelligent that their less attractive peers. Another good example that solidifies this point is how ‘attractive’ defendants received significantly lighter sentences in courtroom cases. In fact, attractive defendants were twice as likely to avoid going to jail as those who are unattractive. With that being said, I believe that humans have a tendency to want to look good. Putting on make up every single morning, combing your hair and wearing nice clothing so that you look presentable is one form of improving your looks. On the extreme side, it can range from getting a Botox injection to plastic surgery. Depending on societal acceptance and geography, plastic surgery has obtained mixed reactions all around. Can we argue that plastic surgery degrades human self-esteem? After all, the goal here is to look better. Plastic surgery aims to improve the self-image of a person and perhaps, better their lives with more positive energy and opportunities.

‘200-pound Beauty’ is a South Korean movie that entails the life of a very fat yet talented young woman. She sings for an artist in a small box under the stage, containing multiple computer monitors, showing her the happenings above her. The artist lip-syncs on queue and dances on stage so as to appear that she is the singer. The young woman does this for a living but does not get much recognition for her talent. This story continues on with her misfortune, regardless of how talented she is, she is unable to find love and be respected because of the way she looks. She attempted suicide but then decided to undergo plastic surgery as a last resort before she really kills herself. After surgery, she became very famous and obtained recognition for her talent and beauty. That was the premise of half the story. In this story, her life improved dramatically after plastic surgery. Without it, she would have found no purpose in life and would have ended her life in dismay. I have to agree that plastic surgery can be quite useful and sometimes essential to boost a person’s self-esteem. As artificial as it may seem, in some cases, plastic surgery actually changes one’s life for the better. “Better Alive than Dead”. Perhaps one day in the future, it will be socially acceptable to undergo plastic surgery here in the US.