Background Of Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic surgery has been defined as "Surgery (and related medical treatment) undergone to improve appearance rather than for health reasons."

The first ever person known to have benefited from plastic surgery was Walter Yeo, he was a sailor during World War 1 and needed a skin graft, which involves using skin from an undamaged area of the body. He was treated for his wounds by Sir Harold Gillies.




Walter Yeo - Before his skin grafts (left) and after (right)

 There is now a rising trend in people undergoing cosmetic procedures in order to achieve better looks rather than for practicality, and is steadily increasing as years go by. In the following blogs I am going to outline the dangers behind this rising trend which is being set by celebrity role models to women in todays society, and if it is really as beneficial as celebrity A Listers make out..

Cosmetic surgery however still has its uses today and developments in technology and science have allowed a broad range of procedures to be able to become possible. Although there is a rise in surgery being done for vanity, and wanting to look better it is still very much still used to help people for burns, and disfigurements just like it was used to help Walter Yeo.

This is evident in the story of Katie Piper. She is now a burns victim, the result of her boyfriend getting someone to throw acid in her face because of his jealousy. However after going through overwhelming reconstructive plastic surgery with the help of her reputable surgeon Mr Mohammed Jawad, her face is now a lot better looking than what it was when she was first burnt. 

An extract from her autobiography, Beautiful by Katie Piper outlines this: "..we'll take skin from your back and buttocks, and graft it onto your face, neck, chest and hands. Afterwards we'll put you in an induced coma so you'll have the best chance of recovery" 

 The first image shows the extents to which her burns were, and in the second below that the work of Mr Jawad is clearly evident, as her burns look a lot better.

Katie is also campaigning against prejudice towards people with disfigurement. Watch below, a clip about Katie Piper.



Personally I believe that surgery used to help those with disfigurement and burns is a more effective use of resources because they actually need the surgery to help them get back to leading a normal lifestyle, in comparison to individuals who want surgery to simply appear better looking.

The link between Marxism and Cosmetic Surgery..

Karl Marx was a sociologist, and theorist. His ideas formed the basis for many of the theories used to describe society today, including the idea of a dominant ideology. This theory means a set of common values and beliefs which are in society and are believed by the majority. These views are normally those of the upper/middle classes.

Therefore the lower, working classes will be forced into believing them as they have no power to have their own views, and are probably not educated enough to realise they are being exploited.

This concept can be applied to cosmetic surgery, as if the upper classes are saying cosmetic surgery is the right thing to do then the working classes are likely to also go and also get it done, because they may not be able to rebel against the dominant thoughts in society.

In my judgement I believe that the working classes are dominated by those above them, and are also very naive. They also may not have the educational attainment that the upper classes, a consequence of this is that they may not know any better and may be sucked into capitalism.