IN his article published in the Mirror on March 20 under the title “Exactly how stupid are young mothers that have cosmetic surgery on their breasts?”, Tony Parsons, wrote: “The Mirror has exposed the growing trend for young mothers in their 20s to have cosmetic surgery on their breasts. Exactly how stupid are these young women? Really stupid? Or really, really stupid? Fake breasts – sorry, but if I say “fake boobs” then I will have to cut my throat with a rusty bread knife – make detecting breast cancer infinitely harder. And what is the most common form of cancer in this country? Ah, you guessed. Men hate plastic breasts – they feel as hard and lifeless as plastic fruit. Babies don't like them – if a mum with surgically enhanced breasts breastfeeds a baby, the tot will probably spit it out. But some young women like them – the ones who are not in permanent pain because of their surgery. Sisters Stephanie Mills, 22, and Mandy Jones, 21, proudly display their artificially-inflated mammary glands, freely admitting that they did it for no one but their poor, deluded, self-loathing selves. These are two gorgeous young girls. Why climb on the surgeon's slab to make their breasts hard and lifeless? Because we persist in talking about breast enhancement as though it is some kind of groovy, girl-power fashion option. When actually it is an act of self-mutilation.” This piece reminded me of an article I wrote some months ago for a local Arabic newspaper titled “Women and Cosmetic Surgeries in the Kingdom.” It seems women's attraction to these surgeries is universal. The demand for cosmetic and plastic surgeries in the Kingdom has increased at least tenfold in the last five years. This may be due to a decrease in the time consumed and the cost required of these kinds of surgeries. Earlier only wealthy people could afford them. Now, with the development of medical technology and the rising competition between plastic surgeons, the middle class can go for them. The popularity of these surgeries can be seen in the fact that many middle class women take bank loans or even collect cash through Jamiah (some relatives or friends who agree to pay a specific amount of cash into a common pool every month, the total sum of which is then given to one of the participants each month) to undergo a cosmetic surgery. Looking at Saudi Arabia, we find the most popular kind of surgeries among Saudi women are liposuction (due to the fact that obesity is a common problem in the Kingdom), lip jobs, and nose jobs. However, many Saudis do not bother looking for licenses that state the doctors they are visiting are specialists in plastic surgery. What is worse is that many of these Saudis do not know that medical regulations in the Kingdom oblige doctors to hang up their license publicly in the clinic. This ignorance encourages many non-certified practitioners, or doctors who don't specialize in plastic surgery, to enter the lucrative market. The question which may be asked, especially from a man's perspective, is why are women motivated to go under the knife? In fact, many women go for these surgeries just to attract men. So many married women think their husbands may go chasing after younger attractive girls otherwise. Those who want to improve their relationships may also go for cosmetic surgeries thinking that they may attract their partners better. It has been said that women around the world like to be beautiful according to the criteria set by men around them. Hence, “British women are more likely to have cosmetic surgery to please their partners,” according to a research that appeared in The Guardian (August 30, 2007). However, it should not be forgotten that the media has brought about what we can call “the globalization of beauty.” Women are attracted by the images of celebrities they see. They want to meet movie stars who have been set as the standards of beauty. For example, in the UK some women want to have the breasts of glamour model Melinda Messenger, the thighs of supermodel Naomi Campbell, and the nose of Baby Spice Emma Bunton! – SG The writer can be reached at [email protected] __
