pro
However, the vast majority of people who have
The compulsion to change one's body is often a
symptom of a deeper mental instability. It
should be treated as a problem, not encouraged
with surgery. Research indicating that breast
augmentation patients are four times more
likely to commit suicide compared to other
plastic surgery patients raises questions about
the mental health of women who choose
implants1. It's only a plaster patched over a
much deeper problem. There are also studies
that show negative psychological effects on
patients after their surgery has been completed.
For example, a recent analysis 37 studies on
patients' psychological and psychosocial
functioning before and after cosmetic surgery
by social worker Roberta Honigman and
psychiatrists Katherine Phillips, MD, and
David Castle, MD, found several predictors of
poor outcomes, especially for those who hold
unrealistic expectations or have a history of
depression and anxiety. The researchers found
that patients who are dissatisfied with surgery
may request repeat procedures or experience
depression and adjustment problems, social
isolation, family problems, self-destructive
behaviours and anger towards the surgeon and
his or her staff2.
cosmetic surgery have one procedure and never
look back. They're made happier and more
secure in themselves because of it. In fact, the
same study by social worker Roberta
Honigman and psychiatrists Katherine Phillips,
MD, and David Castle, MD, also suggested
positive outcomes in some patients, including
improvements in body image and possibly a
boost in their quality of life as well1. Therefore,
it would be wrong to say that cosmetic surgery
can be psychologically damaging as a rule.
Many studies have shown that patients have
higher self-esteem after surgery. For example,
in a recent study by Sarwer found that a year
after receiving cosmetic surgery, 87 per cent of
patients reported satisfaction following their
surgery, including improvements in their
overall body image and the body feature
altered. They also experienced less negative
body image emotions in social situations2.
KONTRA
Banning cosmetic surgery would not
prevent it occurring, better for it to
be legal and performed properly
If banned, cosmetic surgery will flourish on a
black market. Of course cosmetic surgery is
already available on the black market but if
banned then potentially all the customers who
have legal cosmetic surgery will become
customers for black market cosmetic surgery.
This will drive the prices up and it will be
much more dangerous as it will be done by
unscrupulous doctors and outside all the safety
precautions the legal environment provides.
Examples such as that of 46 year old Maria
Olivia Aguirre-Castillo died as a result of a
black market cosmetic procedure in which
cooking oil was injected into her buttocks by
an unlicensed practitioner who promised a
cheap alternative to legitimate procedures.
After spending a week in a coma following the
procedure, Ms. Aguirre-Castillo succumbed to
multiple organ failure due to fat embolization,
as the oil injected into her buttocks attacked
her body functions1. Examples such as this
would become much more of a common
occurrence if cosmetic surgery was banned due
to the increase in black market surgeries.
1
Cosmetic Surgery bargains, (accessed
12/6/2011)
KONTRA Women have the right and freedom to choose how they look
Counterpoint
The freedom to change their body if they wish If anything, cosmetic surgery is the latest
is important to women who have historically phenomenon in the long history of the
The black market argument applies to
everything illegal. Of course that risk
exists, but the number of those
undertaking the activity will be smaller,
as the opposition suggests by saying
that operations will increase in price.
Lack of legal safeguards and medical
accountability, and the probability that
only badly qualified doctors will offer
illegal operations will deter almost
everyone from risking black market
surgery. Fewer operations must be
desirable if it is agreed that the activity
concerned should be banned. Since
discussing the effects of banning
cosmetic surgery is at the present time a
hypothetical task, this argument will cite
the prohibition of drugs as an example. A
2001 Australian study of 18-29 year olds
by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics
and Research suggests that prohibition
deters illicit drug use. 29% of those who
had never used cannabis cited the
illegality of the substance as their reason
for never using the drug, while 19% of
those who had ceased use of cannabis
cited its illegality as their reason 1.
1
NSW Bureau of Crime statistics and
research, Does prohibition deter
cannabis use?, (accessed 12/6/2011)

been subjugated by men, their bodies regarded
as owned and for the use of men. Cosmetic
surgery the ultimate control over ones body,
perhaps is the latest stage in the
emancipation of women and their ability to
decide what happens to their bodies. The
French performance artist Orlan, for example,
sees plastic surgery as a path towards self-
determination a way for women to regain
control of their bodies. Instead of having her
body rejuvenated or beautiful, she turns the
tables and uses surgery as a medium for a
different project.[1] Orlan designs her body,
orchestrates the operations and makes the final
decision about when to stop and when to go
on. She is the creator, not just the creation; the
one who decides and not the passive object of
another's decisions that many people view
recipients of cosmetic surgery to be.[2]
Feminists have often envisioned a future where
technology has been seized for women for their
own ends. Take, for example, Shulamith
Firestone's Dialectic of Sex (1970) in which
she fantasies a world in which reproductive
technology frees women from the chores and
constraints of biological motherhood.[3]
objectification of women in society. In
actuality this technology is not empowering
because it is largely used by women who are
driven to meet male standards of beauty,
exaggerating their shape and seeking to remain
youthful lest their partner leave them for (often
literally) a younger model. A preference for
younger women (which is universally
documented) evolved for men to narrow the
range of productive mates to those still young
enough to bear children1. As women's
reproductive capacity drops off dramatically,
so do men's ratings of 'attractiveness' for her.
1
Goehring, Jennifer, Modern standards of
beauty: Nature or Nurture? An evolutionary
perspective (accessed 11/6/2011)

[1]Orlan, Manifesto of Carnal Art.

[2]Kathy Davis, 'My body is my art': Cosmetic

surgery as feminist utopia?

[3]Ibid.
KONTRA Given that the reality is that we're judged on our appearance all the time, it's
perfectly rational to want to look good.
Point
Nobody's forcing anyone to have cosmetic
surgery the market is driven by demand.
Attractiveness is greatly affects first
impressions and later interpersonal
relationships. In a classic study entitled 'What
is Beautiful is good', psychologists Kenneth
Dion, Ellen Berscheid and Elaine Hatfield
asked college students to rate photographs of
strangers on a variety of personal
characteristics. Those who were judged to be
attractive were also more likely to be rated
intelligent, kind, happy, flexible, interesting,
confident, friendly, modest, and successful
than those judged unattractive [1]. Teachers
rate attractive children more highly on a
variety of positive characteristics including IQ
and sociability, and attractive babies are
cuddled and kissed more often than
unattractive babies[2].
Counterpoint
On the other hand, it could be argued that
instead of giving into this reality we should be
fighting against the culture of unrealistic
beauty ideals. Allen Ginsburg, a radical writer
of the 1960s, said, "Whoever controls the
media- the images- controls the culture" 1. The
media constantly conveys unrealistic images of
the ideal female body. Every woman has a
unique build and make-up, yet the media
always tries to perpetuate what they believe the
universal standard of women should be2. These
convince an individual that something is
terribly wrong with his physical appearance
and that it needs to be mended. The growth in
cosmetic surgery enhances people's perception
that there is something wrong with their body
if they don't conform to the ideal beautiful
form. It could also be argued that the lengths
that women go to to try and look good are
indeed not rational. Cosmetic surgery with its
high cost and risks certainly does not seem like
a rational option3.
1
Ginsburg, Allen, Allen Ginsburg quotes,
(accessed 15/6/2011)
2
Image is Everything,(accessed 12/6/2011)
3
Risks of Plastic surgery,(accessed 16/6/2011)