Friday 4 October 2019

The Body Beautiful

While waiting for the anaesthetic to take effect, my dentist was talking to me about how the amount of youngsters visiting her surgery has increased and when I asked why, after wiping the dribble from my cheek, she put it down to selfies.
It seems that the proliferation of teenagers taking pictures of themselves and posting them online has led to a surge in them overly worrying about their appearance.
Having the pearly whites buffed and polished is not the only symptom either, all sorts of cosmetic surgery from nose jobs, jaw shavings and boob jobs have increased and its men as well as women although women 'getting work done' vastly outnumbers the men.
Young women have always looked to squeeze every inch out of what nature gave us with make-up, push up bras, false eyelashes, perfume and stiletto shoes but the young generation seems to have taken it one step further and now actually get their bodies surgically and chemically sculpted.
Skin whitening is now a thing and i don't even want to think what anal bleaching entails but i have seen if offered as part of a package for a 'beautiful body' which in some cases begins even before the foetus is formed.
Science is closing in on cell manipulation before implantation and gene modifications in bio-engineering but all this comes at a price with anorexia, emotional instability, insecurity, self-mutilation,  and eczema all on the rise in the search for the perfect body like those advertised in the magazines and on television.
The NHS does not offer cosmetic surgery and going private is beyond the purse of most youngsters, £5,000 for breast enhancement, £4,500 for liposuction and £4,500 for nose surgery and these come with a disclaimer that results are not guaranteed.
I get that young people, women especially, want to look their best but where in my day it was hair dye, a whole case of foundation, a little red dress and padded bras, today it is a whole other thing altogether.

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