Immoral!?

[blondekosmic15]

Your thoughts ladies...

     

Is Cosmetic Surgery Immoral?

Even more importantly: Why do you want to know?

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway | posted 3/16/2010 09:06AM

 

Late-night comedian Craig Ferguson once noted that society went off the skids when advertising executives began targeting young consumers in the 1950s. They did this, he explained, so that people would commit to products at a younger age and therefore spend more on a given brand over their lifetimes.

But then everyone got on board, celebrating youth rather than the wisdom and wit that come with age and experience. When it became fashionable and desirable to be young, people became frightened not to be so, he argued. "People started dying their hair, mutilating their faces and bodies in order to look young. But you can't be young forever! That's against the laws of the universe!"

Death is still inevitable, it turns out. But people are doing their best to fight against aging by getting nipped and tucked wherever they can.

I'm one of those people who frown on cosmetic surgery. Ever since I realized my friends were getting nose jobs for their 16th birthdays, I felt that body modification was somehow cheating. And when I see aging celebrities with lips that look like they belong on a duck, I actually cringe.

Hans Madueme, a medical doctor completing a Ph.D. in theological studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, outlined a number of ethical questions surrounding cosmetic surgery in a recent article for The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.

He notes that, for many of us, cosmetic surgery elicits a reaction of repugnance. Ethicist Leon Kass talks about the "wisdom of repugnance," the idea that our revulsion indicates an intuitive understanding that something is morally awry. Indeed, Michael Jackson's and Joan Rivers's adventures under the knife seem like modern-day morality tales.

But is plastic surgery bad because it's unnatural? Shaving armpits and legs is unnatural, but you don't hear a lot of popular sentiment about how Americans are going against nature and nature's God when women buy razors.

Some might argue that most of our grooming (such as dying one's hair or tweezing unwanted facial hair) is a temporary aesthetic fix, whereas cosmetic surgery permanently alters what God gave us. But the duration of change is hardly the best ethical barometer. Besides, we don't seem to have problems with knee replacement surgery or the permanent removal of teeth.

Is the real difference, as I've long thought, one of treatment versus enhancement? A woman getting cosmetic surgery following the removal of a cancerous breast is okay, but one expanding her bustline without medical necessity is suspect.

"If only things were so easy," says Madueme. "The world is bursting with ethical and moral complexity," he says, noting that perfume and makeup are also enhancements.

Our nip-and-tuck culture is about beauty and covetousness. But it's also about our frail and failing bodies, and even more about discontent.

A pastor friend of mine once told me, "The Lutheran answer to every question is, 'Why do you want to know?'" A question about the morality of abortion will be handled differently based on whether the person asking is a post-abortive woman seeking forgiveness, a pregnant woman facing a crisis pregnancy and considering abortion, or a curious youth who's simply seeking instruction.

The answer doesn't change, but the way we address the issue does.

Likewise, perhaps the best way to approach questions about the morality of cosmetic surgery is to pinpoint why we're pondering the issue. A woman who thinks her marriage will improve if she improves her bustline certainly needs help—but probably not the kind of help that a scalpel provides. But what about the man who recently lost hundreds of pounds and has the saggy skin to prove it? Is he morally justified in getting a skin tuck? What about someone who has a birthmark that, while harmless, is tremendously distracting to others?

Just because the issue is morally complex doesn't mean there aren't answers. It does mean, however, that there are limits to what we can say with certainty. But understanding the reason someone seeks cosmetic surgery helps us understand whether it's moral or not.

And there's another part of this, going back to Ferguson's rant. Yes, our nip-and-tuck culture is about beauty and covetousness. But it's also about our frail and failing bodies, and even more about discontent. We yearn for more meaning and fulfillment and think we might be able to get it if we can just improve this one part of our failing bodies.

Culturally speaking, we do worship our bodies rather than God. And while some cosmetic surgery is a beautiful gift from God, some of it is also symptomatic of our larger cultural rot.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=87099

[wanita61]

I don't think it's immoral. However I wouldn't go for it even though I'm not as attractive as I'd like to be. And I wouldn't encourage anyone going for it either. I think most of the time the result wouldn't look natural.

[SamMichelle88]

I don't think its "immoral" so much as addictive because no matter how much you "fix" you can never be perfect. You'll just continue to be disappointed!

[mamapaparazzi]

I can see how it can be looked at as immoral - basically saying God screwed up when He made you.... which is, in effect, doubting God... and playing towards vanity.  But if that's so, then it really is no different than shaving legs, pits, bikini area, girl-staches.  Or wearing deoderant or make-up or doing your hair in any way but pulled back to keep out of your way.  

[vallchick]

No, I would not say it is immoral. What it can do for someones self esteem is priceless. Within reason of course. I used to to work at a plastic surgery office and some of the things I saw were so heartwarming. Like this 12-13 year old girl who had been made fun of her whole life for her ears sticking out, and we are not talking about a little bit. Had an otoplasty (ears pined back) and WOW what a change in her self esteem. She came back a year later for a check up and she was a different person. I could tell you many stories of how it changed peoples lives. I could also tell you some bad stories too but most were positive. 

[blondekosmic15]

 

Quoting SamMichelle88:

I don't think its "immoral" so much as addictive because no matter how much you "fix" you can never be perfect. You'll just continue to be disappointed!

 I agree....Joan Rivers comes to mind~

[blondekosmic15]

 

Quoting SamMichelle88:

I don't think its "immoral" so much as addictive because no matter how much you "fix" you can never be perfect. You'll just continue to be disappointed!

 I agree...Joan Rivers comes to mind~

[SamMichelle88]

Lol, if we're really going to get technical, a woman's long hair is meant to veil her as she prays, so even pulling your hair back would be immoral. (Not saying it is, but if we want to get REALLY technical following that mindset)

Quoting mamapaparazzi:

I can see how it can be looked at as immoral - basically saying God screwed up when He made you.... which is, in effect, doubting God... and playing towards vanity.  But if that's so, then it really is no different than shaving legs, pits, bikini area, girl-staches.  Or wearing deoderant or make-up or doing your hair in any way but pulled back to keep out of your way.  

[tyfry7496]

 Uh, NO!!! It is a personal choice. Not something I would do, even if I had the money to do it. The only way would be lipo or tummy tuck because I lost a significant amount of weight and had excess skin flab or I was disfigured.

[mamapaparazzi]

Uff da, lol.... all I can think of is uber long hair dangling in dirty dish water as I try to get the dishes done, lol.... icky!

Quoting SamMichelle88:

Lol, if we're really going to get technical, a woman's long hair is meant to veil her as she prays, so even pulling your hair back would be immoral. (Not saying it is, but if we want to get REALLY technical following that mindset)

Quoting mamapaparazzi:

I can see how it can be looked at as immoral - basically saying God screwed up when He made you.... which is, in effect, doubting God... and playing towards vanity.  But if that's so, then it really is no different than shaving legs, pits, bikini area, girl-staches.  Or wearing deoderant or make-up or doing your hair in any way but pulled back to keep out of your way.  

[MissBearNMonkey]

 What's their stance on burn victims?

I'm happy with my looks so it doesn't directly affect me. Putting a standard of morality on something seems to be setting up those who do it for derision from those who seem to think they should have an opinion on everyone else's actions. It's something I just don't feel like trying wrap my head around.