Comments on: Kates against plastic surgery

By: Bella A.

Bella A. — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:44:53 +0000

Thanks for this great insight about getting cosmetic surgery. I am not really sure how to respond to this. We all have this bad cosmetic surgery experiences. I hope that yours are okay right now. I have one also but i am just fortunate that I have a good surgeon to fix my nose.

By: Eat the Damn Cake » stop waiting to be prettier

Eat the Damn Cake » stop waiting to be prettier — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:40:38 +0000

[...] I had been so sure that everything was different. That I had crossed this magical line into beauty, and there would be a welcoming party of enthusiastically appreciative, yet comfortably respectful young men, and poised, confident, mildly jealous young women waiting to greet me. The whole world would turn, catch a glimpse of me, and stay there for an extra second, smiling, dazed, glad of my existence. [...]

By: Jamie B

Jamie B — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 03:52:36 +0000

I agree with you completely Kate. I think. What I mean is, I think that no woman should ever feel like how she looks is unacceptable. If she’s happy with it, that’s all that should matter. Plastic surgery for the purpose of fitting into social ideals is, imo, stupid.
BUT
If that woman is genuinely personally bothered by something about her body, she should have the right to make a change without being judged for it. No matter how frivolous someone else thinks it is – it’s her body, if she needs a round of Botox to be happy with her body, that’s her business.

I had a breast reduction a little over a year ago and … best thing I ever did. I only went down a size or two, but the LIFT part is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s just… amazing. I used to LOATHE my body, and now, well, I kinda like it. What’s important is I did it for MY OWN reasons, not somebody else’s reasons.

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:56:27 +0000

@morgaine
Aww! You’re obviously incredibly smart and cool, and I’m honored that you read my stuff.

So yeah. That just got mushy.

(World, that’s the kind of thing that happens on here. Just so you know what you’re getting into.)

By: morgaine

morgaine — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:38:38 +0000

I’m honored to have made one of my favorite bloggers think!

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:35:27 +0000

@morgaine
Hey, great insight! I’m sort of embarrassed for not thinking along these lines myself– probably because my plastic surgery was motivated by not liking the way my nose looked. But of course, even that depended on the day. Some days, I thought I was totally gorgeous anyway. Some days, I didn’t even notice my nose, or liked it. So even in my case, which was motivated largely by negativity, it’s complicated.
Thank you for making me think.

By: morgaine

morgaine — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:27:23 +0000

Understanding that you would be happier looking different doesn’t necessarily mean you love your current self any less. I feel my best in a sexy dress, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less content in sweatpants. Granted, clothing isn’t permanent, but plastic surgery can be an extension of the same principle. It doesn’t have to stem from insecurity – people change their appearances for all sorts of reasons. No one assumes I hated myself before my tattoos, so why are women with breast implants subject to that assumption?

This is a trend I’ve noticed in modern feminism, and it bothers me: the impulse to pity women who make unpopular choices, mostly sex work and plastic surgery. The assumption that they’d only do so out of desperation or indoctrination, that they need to be “saved from themselves.” How about we treat women as adults and pass less judgment on what they choose to do with their bodies?

By: Mandy

Mandy — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:55:57 +0000

Over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the height of arrogance to decide for someone else how they should look–PERIOD. No the so-called “beauty” industry, not the fashion industry, not the exercise gurus, and most certainly not the people who think it’s a sin to mess with what god gave you.
The only person who should be making decisions about someone’s body is the person who lives in it.
I mean, isn’t that ultimately what the Women’s Movement was about?–the freedom to make our own choices, and to control our own bodies?

By: Lynellekw

Lynellekw — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:09:59 +0000

I’m not getting into any nose contests. But that IS always the thing – we don’t see ourselves the way we really are, we just kind of see this image that we’ve already got in our heads. That’s why I liked the professional photos – I looked at them and saw my eyes and my mouth and suddenly my whole face seemed to fit together better. Shots taken with the right lighting by someone who knows how to use a camera just seemed to make me see ME instead of the ideas I already carried around in my mind about what I looked like.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:06:53 +0000

It works! It works! Thanks. See, this is funny, because I’m looking at your face, and I can’t see why you would EVER have a problem with your nose. But that’s always the thing, isn’t it?
Also, I feel like my nose could beat your nose up. Just sayin’.