Extreme Makeover: Exploring Elective Cosmetic Plastic Surgery

Okay, here's a paper you can download about plastic surgery. I wrote it for my ethics class. It is one of the few which I have been pleased with in totality. The only reason, in my opinion, that it lacks more is because I was confined to a page limit. By the way, the best treatments of this topic are by feminists, and I enjoyed reading their perspectives on this matter. I was cheering all the way. There are a few problems with my topic though, one which is mentioned in the paper. First, Christians don't write about plastic surgery. That's a shame. Second, the feminists whom I read and agreed with didn't provide solutions to the problem...... (p.s. I think I started to provide a solution in my paper....)

Some highlights:
Self-esteem is one of the more prominent reasons driving people to alter or “enhance” their body appearance because the idea of attractiveness is one aspect of society exerting sway on those who do not believe they measure up to cultural standards of beauty.[1] The ideas of beauty, attractiveness and desirability can lead some to a quest of the unattainable.
[1] David B. Sarwer and Leanne Magee, “Physical Appearance and Society” in Psychological Aspects of Reconstructive and Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, ed. David B. Sarwer, Thomas Pruzinsky, Thomas F. Cash, Robert M. Goldwyn, John A. Persing, and Linton A. Whitaker, (Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: 2006): 27-29.

One question posed by bioethicists and feminists, who are the primary critics of elective plastic surgery, is concerning the role of medicine with physical enhancement. Some of the criticisms range from doctors catering to a market that objectifies women to the responsibility of a physician profiting from body enhancement while people in developing countries are dying from easily treatable diseases.[1] Some argue, bioethicists not withstanding, that plastic surgery is an individual choice and the consequences are primarily realized by the individual.[2]
[1] Alice Laneader and Paul Root Wolpe, “Ethical Considerations in Cosmetic Surgery”, 310-311.
[2] Ibid., 303.

The Church Father Tertullian once said, “what hath Jerusalem to do with Athens” and such seems to be the case with the American Church and the industry of elective cosmetic plastic surgery.[1] This leads to the question of how this practice informs the Church about culture and how the Church can inform culture about this practice. The Church does not exist apart from the culture and must understand the “why” of a practice in order to address the pertinent issues behind many of the motivations leading people to seek cosmetic alterations.
[1] I say this due to the absence of Christian authored journal or magazine articles on this practice as it becomes a growing trend in American culture.

If you want to see the rest, download it.