The New Addiction :: essays research papers

The New AddictionTen years ago 330,000 Americans underwent plastic surgery. This year that return has increased to over 6 million, of which 335,000 are under the age of 18 (So you want a famous face). The increase in numbers of plastic surgeries could be attributed and/or directly proportionate to the increase in extreme makeover shows. According to Charles Cooley, a persons sense of self is derived from the perceptions of others. We will use Charles coolies looking-glass-self theory to argue that mass media has created a social mirror for millions of women, the consequence of which is a cosmetic surgery addiction.Coolys looking-glass-self is delineate as a self-concept based on our perception of others judgments of us (Sociology pg 97). In the year 2000 more than 6.3 million women chose to have cosmetic plastic surgery, which could be a direct result from people watching TV programs such as Extreme Makeover, Swan, and Nip/Tuck (Less is Really More capital of Minnesota Lorenc.. N ewsweek). These kinds of shows, combined with the seemingly flawless beauty of Hollywood stars, forms the social mirror by which society judges itself. Under these circumstances certain people pay back to see themselves as wanting and not good enough. The answer to their observeings of unattractiveness is fulfilled by plastic surgery more often than not, and when their problem is not ameliorate by one surgery another is done until an addiction begins to form. In the year 2003, 4.3 million patients undergoing plastic surgery were returning patients (plasticsurgery.org). We feel Coolys theory of the looking-glass-self illustrates why society is addicted to plastic surgery, and why this addiction is due to the media. We believe that the media project images of people that are unrealistic and these images are what we feel we should look like.