Cosmetic Surgery on Teenagers

Cosmetic surgery on teenagers

Both texts, Valerie Ulene, "Plastic surgery for teens", an article from Los Angeles Times website, January 12, 2009 and Camille Sweeney, "Seeking Self-Esteem Through Surgery", an article from New York Times website, January 15, 2009, agree on the view on cosmetic surgery and query the idea of increased self-esteem to a certain point. Text 1, "Plastic surgery for teens", focuses more on the surgery itself whereas text 2, Seeking Self-Esteem Through Surgery", focuses more on the psychological part of cosmetic surgery. Even though they show two different sides of plastic surgery they still share some of the same statements of problems such as: which consequences surgery can lead to and which image issues teenagers' face today. The fact that Diana Zuckerman, The president of the National Research center for Women and Families, appears in both articles makes them look alike in some cases, due to the similar chosen subjects. In text 1 Valerie Ulene emphasizes the issues of the modern world's view on beauty and unrealistic ideals. These are some the primary problems that she discusses. In her discussion she actually refers to a study that shows no evidence of improved self-esteem after undergoing surgery. Valerie Ulene questions the surgeons, and that is where Dr. John Canedy, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, comes in. Dr. John Canedy himself seems to have a critical view on cosmetic procedures among teens as well. He doesn't exclude improved self-esteem, but he thinks that the surgeons should select the patients carefully and after long consideration.

As I mentioned before text 2, "Seeking Self-Esteem Through Surgery", focuses a lot on the beauty and psychological issues such as: celebrity obsession and makeover TV shows. Another person who shares some of the same views is Jean Kilbourne, the co-author of "So Sexy, So Soon". He talks about the impossibilities of meeting the standards and values of beauty. Ann Kearney-Cooke, likes to characterize this phenomena as "an epidemic of low self-esteem among girls". Diana Zuckerman, which appears in both articles, says that teens often forget or ignore the fact that they aren't guaranteed a better life afterwards and that's a big problem.

Valerie Ulene engages the readers in several ways. One of the methods she uses in the text is to personalize it by referring to herself and her beauty problems, more specifically her nose. This is something that appears throughout the text. She even mentions her teen daughter: "With a 14-year-old daughter of my own, I recognize how difficult it can be ". By this she also refers to parents banning teen plastic surgery, and that engages the readers personally. Most people could probably relate to most of the problems Valerie Ulene talks about and has experienced.