Persuasive Essay Example: Plastic Surgery ⋆ Persuasive Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century are remarkable in terms of how beauty standards have become seemingly mandatory in the countries of the western world. If you analyze commercials on television and on the Internet, most of them will refer to beauty: all kinds of cosmetics, clothes, gyms, fitness programs, and plastic surgery are being advertised everywhere. Although the role of beauty in the modern world can be debated, and there exist a lot of reasons against using plastic surgery, there are still reasons why manually changing the appearance granted by nature is acceptable.

Gaining self-confidence is probably one of the most important advantages a person can gain from plastic surgery. Despite common opinion, a wish to surgically correct one’s appearance may not necessarily be dictated by dysmorphophobia (a psychological condition when a person is obsessed with imaginary or real defects in their appearance), but can be a rational and conscious decision. Some people have physical features that have a recognizable impact on their daily lives, such as cleft lip, skull deformations, excessive pigmentation, and so on; other people tend to perceive such features as unpleasant, and this fact can negatively affect communication and social interactions, also causing low self-esteem and depression in a person, who is, by other criteria, the same as other people, or even better. In such cases, plastic surgery not only helps to remove undesired disturbances, but also boosts self-confidence and self-esteem, granting a person the ability to live a normal life (LiveStrong.com).

Plastic surgery can be undergone due to medical reasons. One of the most common examples of such surgery is a lift in the eyes and around the forehead; it helps to reduce eye pain and headaches caused by this physiological defect (Occupy Theory). Another example is damage received as a result of an accident—a chemical or thermal burn, fracture, deep scars, malformation, and so on. Plastic surgery, in these cases, can be used to return a patient back to his or her original condition and appearance before the accident.

There are cases when plastic surgery improves a person’s overall health condition. This is a common effect for women who have excessively large breasts, for example; they often tend to undergo breast reduction procedures. Large breasts, unlike many people might believe, deal women a great amount of problems: pain in the back, shoulders, and loin; scoliosis; skin stretches; chafing; this is not to mention the limitation in the activities such women can do: jogging or fitness, for instance. Breast reduction helps women feel better, fixes their posture, and allows them to live a normal, fulfilling life (Health Reform Navigator).

Undergoing plastic surgery is often treated as a quirk; many of its opponents refer to the negative consequences such operations have. However, plastic surgery can also have positive effects, which, in some cases, overlap potential harms. In particular, it can significantly boost a person’s self-confidence and self-esteem; it can save a person from health damage caused by physiological defects, as well as fix the consequences of different kinds of accidents. Also, plastic surgery can be beneficial for health in general. All these facts prove that plastic surgery is acceptable, and sometimes can be beneficial for one’s health.

References:

“What Are the Pros & Cons of Cosmetic Surgery?” LIVESTRONG.COM, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Dec. 2015.
“Plastic Surgery Pros and Cons List.” OccupyTheory. N.p., 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Dec. 2015.
“The Pros and Cons of Cosmetic Surgery.” Health Reform Navigator. N.p., 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 23 Dec. 2015.