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Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?

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run_sunshine
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
My parents bothered me for about 2 years to get a nose job, and I finally did at 17 (so did 4 other girls in my grade, but it was Long Island, whatever).

I never hid it from anyone, and I never felt any emotional fall-out from it then or now, 8 years later. I'm a pretty crunchy girl, and most people were surprised at my decision, but I think I look much better now and I feel like people aren't staring at my honking schnoz immediately when they meet me.

For some people, it's not a huge, life-altering decision. It's just something they want to do to make themselves look better.
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clevernamehere
12/11/08

@run_sunshine: Huh? I grew up in a pretty affluent LI village and no one had a nose job when I was in school.
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run_sunshine
12/12/08

@clevernamehere: If it wasn't Great Neck, Syosset, or Dix Hills, you probably missed out on the craze.

@Mark 2000: I have a small face--it's really difficult to find sunglasses that don't completely overwhelm me. I had this big honker on a small face and it was a bit overwhelming. I feel my current nose fits my face much better, things are much more in proportion. And I've even gotten post-nose job comments that I still have a big nose. For me, it wasn't some sort of ethnic self-loathing--just a really big nose.

Also, my nose was an equal opportunity attention-drawer--whites, blacks, Asians, this schnoz was an attraction to all.
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clevernamehere
12/12/08

@run_sunshine: I have a feeling you won't see this, but what the heck...

So the issue would be mostly Jewish towns = lots of nose jobs?

I've heard the LI girls get nose job things so many times and I never get it. I grew up in Garden City, which is about as affluent as the towns you mentioned (actually according to the census it is slightly more affluent) and no one had a nose job even though the town is heavily Italian with lots of big noses. I only know of two post-HS nose jobs- big nosed Italian guy (who looks nothing like himself) and small nosed blonde girl who looks exactly the same.

Maybe it wasn't ethnic self-loathing for you, but it does seem a little strange to me that a specific ethnic group is getting all the nose jobs.
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morninggloria
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
Instead of getting plastic surgery, I'm employing age- preventative practices now, at 25. I never make facial expressions of any kind, wear a hockey mask everywhere to avoid UV exposure, physically attack cigarette smokers, do seven hours of yoga per day, and wear an extremely uncomfortable but restrictive bra that will keep my boobs perky.
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tscheese
12/11/08

@morninggloria: ...Gwyneth?
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morninggloria
12/11/08

@tscheese: (wink)
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sportz.star
12/11/08

@morninggloria: You had a facial from that crazy aesthetician at Exhale too? That's pretty much what she told me to do. At 25 (four years ago) I was told "you should avoid the sun completely." Wha!?!?!?
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nnnnnnn'
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
Dodai, you NEED TO do a post on Louis Theroux's documentary on plastic surgery.

It is INSANE!!
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tomatoheart
12/11/08

@ManhattanManHatin': god how much i love mr. theroux.
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Penny_Esq
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
I feel conflicted about cosmetic surgery. My bestie wants boobs, and she's super stoked about her free consultation next week. She's always wanted them. This makes me sad, and disapproving, but also somewhat envious that she apparently doesn't give a fuck about the stigma of having fake boobs, about which most of my friends have always spoken derisively. (This is Portland, after all.) I want to be supportive and non-judgey, but more often than not I wind up thinking, as Dodai pointed out, wouldn't that money be better spent on therapy? Or a security deposit for an apartment (as she is living at home while she finishes her master's)? She thinks she'll be more confident and love her body more, which I guess means she's bought in to the propaganda... What are you supposed to say to that?
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I_can_still_pitch
12/11/08

@Penny_Esq: I guess you could try to explain to her that fake boobs rarely look like anything other than hard lumps of rubber shoved under the skin. I completely disagree with the notion that they ever make the implantee look better. The only time I feel that they are useful is in the case of reconstructive surgery. Is she interested in the type of man that finds implanted lumps of rubber attractive? Of course, if you try to tell her any of this, she will just resent you.
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stacyinbean
12/11/08

@Penny_Esq: I would just caution her of the risks, many of which are not made clear to you during consultations. I actually went in for a breast reduction and one of the x-ray ladies was telling me how they've had a slew of women coming in with implants and they can't see behind or around them to look for cancer during mammograms so they are basically SOL. I never ended up having the reduction, I couldn't go through with it. My body isn't perfect, but it's MINE.
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Penny_Esq
12/11/08

@I_can_still_pitch: Oh! Yeah! That's the OTHER thing! She has the most fantastic boyfriend EVER, who adores her, and who thinks she's perfect the way she is! WTF? Not surprisingly, however, she's struggling with some jealousy and insecurity in that relationship (that is TOTALLY UNRELATED TO HER BOYFRIEND, who is a fucking SAINT who worships her) at the moment; I just don't think it's a coincidence that all of a sudden, even though she's in grad school and living at home, she wants to put her savings towards a fake rack.

@stacyinbean: This is a good point. I did ask her about the risk of being incapable of breastfeeding, since she's really set on being a doting and perfect SAHM someday, but she pointed out that lots of ladies with perfectly natural breasts struggle to feed their kids without relying on formula; sort of like, there's no guarantee she'd be able to do it anyway, so why bother waiting? I didn't know about the mammogram risk, though, that is something I will ask her about. I wonder whether she is non-short-sighted enough to consider it rationally.

Reductions, I have to say, I don't consider cosmetic surgery, even if there are cosmetic benefits. They solve a shit-ton of problems, and many insurance plans pay for them. (Though by no means all: One of the women in my office had one a couple years ago; the insurance the office used then wouldn't pay for it, so they just switched insurance companies to one who would. Yay my boss.) I guess reductions are elective, to a point, but to me they seem similar to when I had my ACL repaired. I didn't HAVE to have it fixed, I could've walked around fine without it for the rest of my life, but I was 19 and I wanted to continue to run and ski and be active, so surgery it was. I think reductions provide the same kind of physiological benefits.
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vulcanized
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
Botox as a thank you? More like a fuck you. Lump me in with the groomsmen and gimmie a flask.
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I_can_still_pitch
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
A new study claims that the ladymags downplay the emotional health risks of cosmetic surgery:

Quickly, to the Romero-copter, as they say.
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Lin-Z [linguist on duty]
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
Yes, we all know they downplay the cosmetic surgery and airbrushing but my question is: to what benefit? Is it just to push their own vision of "normal"? Or is it because they are all so dissatisfied with their lives and looks that they want the rest of us to join the suffering?

Any thoughts?
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I_can_still_pitch
12/11/08

@Lin-Z: Because if they keep pushing an unattainable standard of beauty, people will keep buying magazines for their "advice" and "help" on how to obtain that standard.
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JessicaLovejoy: Laughing, riding, cornholing!
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
Bitch, just give me the fucking earrings.

Better yet, gimme a flask like the groomsmen are getting.
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prestocaro fears the culling
12/11/08

@Jessica Hussein Lovejoy: BRB, getting Rahm'ed: I'm doing a monogrammed flask for my sister, who is my maid of honor (and only attendant). The Fi is doing a monogrammed zippo for the best man, a serious chain-and-other smoker.

I think it sucks to give someone a present they can't take with them/won't be able to use in 6 months because it has been absorbed by their body.

That being said, my sis would flip her lid over me getting her botox. She's 30 and starting to look like she may be a senior in HS. For some reason, this worries her.
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sequined
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
I used to be strongly opposed to cosmetic surgery because duh, like yourself as you are. But I do see people who genuinely just dislike a feature (nose, chin, whatever) or have an actual physical problem (boobs so large they cause pain) and I think, why not?

And then I think, lipo suction, lipo dissolve, whatever, are kind of like miracles I used to dream about. And of course I'd like to be "perfect" looking based on my own hard work and self sacrifice, because that's our big moral high ground in this culture, but I don't honestly see the harm anymore in getting a surgeon to help you with it.

I guess besides the fact that we're both embracing of a judgmental of people who turn to surgery to fix perceived physical problems, which is arguably harmful.
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BabyJane
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
My boob hurts just reading Ning Chao's story.
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kansasgirl
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
I live in Los Angeles and saw an ad yesterday in a neighborhood magazine for aesthetic foot surgery. I don't even know what that means.
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happysquid
12/11/08

@kansasgirl: is your middle toe too long?
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labeled
12/11/08

@kansasgirl: You know how some ppl have a longer-than-Big-Toe 2nd toe? I (having one of those myself) was perfectly dumbfounded when I read that some people are having the tip of their toe CUT OFF COMPLETELY, "shortened" and rea-fucking-tached.

So, maybe now you know.
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SomeAuthorGirl
12/11/08

@labeled: But... I thought that longer index toe indicated a super-high sex drive? I have always been proud of my long pretty index toes. Now... not? And have I thought this all these years because of some dumbass thing I read in a ladymag in my 20's?

Dammit, labeled....

Good news I guess is that I don't fuckin' live in LA.
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labeled
12/11/08

@SomeAuthorGirl: @TheHans: @rokenrolzombie: I know, it just completely fucks with me to even think about. Aren't you glad I shared?
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prestocaro fears the culling
12/11/08

@labeled: I'm in denial. I cannot believe people do this. I don't want to believe people do this.
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Mediokra
12/11/08

@kansasgirl: I live in L.A. and the cosmetic surgery ads everywhere freak my shit out. I like my toes the way they are. But I'm sad that all people think of when I talk about L.A. is cosmetic surgery. Yeah, it's more rampant here than in the Midwest, but there's so much more to the city than that.
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RosettaStoned
12/11/08

@SomeAuthorGirl: but...but...you STAND on your feet! what if that fucks up your balance?? myself, i have like this extra bony part on the sides of my feet by the toes, thus giving me WIDE feet at the toe area, thus rendering me unable to wear narrow shoes (including nearly all flats) despite being a size 6 1/2 foot. i'm just betting there's a surgery to shave down the damn bones so i could wear narrow shoes. but there is no way i would EVER mess with my feet. i mean you could end up with a limp or something! all because your toe was long? come ON! who looks at feet anyway! i've never even painted my toenails in my life b/c i'm completely convinced that nobody on earth gives a crap!
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prestocaro fears the culling
12/11/08

@RosettaStoned: If you have hammertoes or bunions they shave off bone sometimes. This surgery really fucks you up (my sister and grandmother have both had it) and will put you in a wheelchair for at least a month, and on crutches for months after. I can't imagine going through that just for cosmetic reasons.
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ceejeemcbeegee is not here
12/11/08

@kansasgirl: It's really big with former ballerinas looking to undo the damage they've done to their toes.... corns, hammertoes, bunions....
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battleaxonista...is a humorless bitch
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
Ok, so I have some serious hardcore acne. Like 'omg get away you leper' acne. And it leads some 'here's a card for the local battered women's shelter' scarring *true story*. So when I see women who's worst problem is maybe a stray wrinkle FUCKING UP THEIR FACES to look like unborn fetuses, it seriously pisses me off. No pity.
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Jessi Ramsey
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
when the acid gets absorbed into her body.

Superheros get their start that way.
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TheFormerJuneBronson
12/11/08

@Jessi Ramsey: Now I have two reasons.
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stacyinbean
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
When was the last time you could say that the woman on the cover of any lady mag didn't have at least one form of cosmetic surgery? I'd say that answers it.

Also, I forget which magazine it was (Marie Claire?) that dealt with the whole Ashlee Simpson nose job thing. That was awful.
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AthertonMerriweather
12/11/08

In reply to Are LadyMags Pro-Cosmetic Surgery?
I assume she's referring to her contract with the Devil?
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