The Rise of Plastic Surgery in America?

[bryan]

@Jason, Kriegsspiel, I know right? Van-life inspirations.

[fiby41]

You are not this body.

[enigmaT120]

Not that body. I'm my own body. Take away the body, there's no me.

[7Wannabe5]

Well, as I revealed elsewhere, I have had a bit of work done. My "ex" covered the expense of roughly $3500, so grain of salt because OPM, but it is my considered opinion 5-ish years later that it was a very good BIFL deal. If you are going to budget anything at all to the category of Personal Aesthetics or Physical Appearance, one time throw down of $3500 works out to only $3500 (.03)/12 = $8.75/month to spend on wrinkle cream, neck scarves, fret-line covering bangs, etc. Not to mention the time spent in the tedium of applying the cream, adjusting the scarf, combing the bangs, etc. Since I have for many years consistently spent less than $20/month on anything that could remotely fall into Beauty Supplies/Treatments and Clothing category, even if I had thrown down personally for the lift of my tiny sad-making chin pouches, I would still be way off the curve of the average of over $5/day most American women spend on beauty products.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ho ... 60f479e594

Anyways, all the old Iraqi, Bosnian and African-American men in the corner doughnut store smiled at me when I walked in this morning, and you can't put a price on the joy of bringing such happiness to others

[Jason]

My mom (age 81) needs to have blepheroplasty, where they tighten up your eyelids.

They really need to work on the names of these surgeries.
No disrespect to Madame Keeler, but Belphero Plasty sounds like a dominatrix from a 1960’s sci fi movie that specializes in sticking electric cattle prods up fat guy’s assholes. Just call it the clearview procedure or something like that. Even derma-abrasion sounds like something you pay extra for when you get your car washed. I would call it “the get laid more”. You go into a deli and you order the Elvis Presley not the “overdosed while taking a shit”. Names matter.

[BRUTE]

You are not this body.

agree to disagree?

[fiby41]

Everyone gets their own set of bodies: prenatal, baby, toddler, child, pubescent, teenager, adult, old and dead body. Cells in the body decay and get replaced in a span of 7 years.

When someone shows you a picture of or pulls up a memory in which you had a different and barely recognisable younger body, would you also say

Not that body. I'm my own body.

[7Wannabe5]

I am a complex adaptive biological system.

[Jason]

Everyone gets their own set of bodies: prenatal, baby, toddler, child, pubescent, teenager, adult, old and dead body. Cells in the body decay and get replaced in a span of 7 years.

When someone shows you a picture of or pulls up a memory in which you had a different and barely recognisable younger body, would you also say

Not that body. I'm my own body.

I am confused by your intention. I assumed that you initially posted "You are not this body" as a Buddhist type sentiment that the body is temporal and one's focus should be on one's spirit. Or something to that effect. Not that I agree with it but I acknowledge some value to the implicit prioritization of what's really important. Now you are merely putting a spin on a biological fact that does not support your position in a singular fashion i.e. the transformation of the individual's body over time does not in and of itself lend itself to any specific religious viewpoint. Change in body does not negate the body (materialism) nor does it necessitate that one must attempt to transcend the body (Buddhism) nor does it mean you get a new one when you die (Christianity). It just means the body changes over one's lifespan and one can flavor that fact with the special sauce of their choosing. Unless I completely misread you, and then I apologize.

[fiby41]

I'm saying it is cheaper to disassociate oneself from identifying with the body than the cost of plastic surgery.

Birth, disease, old ageing and death are the constants of the conditioned nature of the body. One can run away from them but one cannot evade/escape them. Plastic surgery is an attempt at escapism through self-negation.

[7Wannabe5]

@fiby41:

Eh, it's really not that big of a deal. Also, I agree that I am not my unattractive little droopy chin pouches, and I don't feel like I was denying the reality of my maximum lifespan being approximately 100 years by having them vanquished, anymore than I would be denying the maximum lifespan of the springs in my sofa if I chose to have it reupholstered.

And, I would suggest that not maintaining personal appearance to the best of one's ability is only less expensive choice outside of social context. I tried the strategy suggested by Barbara Sher in "It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now" which is to get a head start on best practice for the last third of life by taking back all life energy being spent (wasted) on anything to do with romance/status/sex and spending it on personal hobby interests instead. She even suggests that you should remove all mirrors from your household.

One of the frequent themes in writing by women on the topic of aging is suddenly noticing that nobody checks you out when you enter a room. However, the fact that dependence on validation-by-other is dysfunctional does not mean that you can realistically function as though you are invisible to others. Your appearance, or on a less superficial level, your presence, is like unto a mass that deforms the field in which you operate.

[enigmaT120]

I'm saying it is cheaper to disassociate oneself from identifying with the body than the cost of plastic surgery.

Ah, OK. I thought, like Jason, that it was way more metaphysical.

[TopHatFox]

I'm saying it is cheaper to disassociate oneself from identifying with the body than the cost of plastic surgery.

Ah, OK. I thought, like Jason, that it was way more metaphysical.

I like the disassociation with the body idea. Yes, of course this body is temporary and you can lose part or all of it at any moment. BUT, I agree with 7Wannabe's idea. There are still social benefits to looking nice. And if we can, shouldn't we work to age well? For example, having white, straight teeth (requiring cautiously-used peroxide and orthodontia). Or maybe reducing wrinkles by getting dermabrasion done. Or using a micro-needler to reduce under-eye bags.

I'm starting to think there are different shades of "plastic surgery." Where a nosejob is in the more invasive side of things, and stuff like teeth whitening and dermabrasion less so.

[Kriegsspiel]

I am Jill's paralyzed facial muscles.

[fiby41]

How hard (soft?) it must've been typing with your gums!

[niemand]

I agree with 7Wannabe's idea. There are still social benefits to looking nice. And if we can, shouldn't we work to age well?

I strongly suggest you watch Queer Eye on Netflix and listen carefully to what style expert Tan has to say! Enlightening