Breast Implants Argumentative Essay

Shona Weerpass

Dr. Diane Watson

English 1100

4 December 2013

Breast Implants a Commonly Accepted form of Body Modification

In the last decade or so, breast implants have become a common form of body modification. Primarily because new procedures have been developed that guarantee a patients welfare. Therefore becoming a popular choice by woman, who claim that this type of body modification is a self-esteem booster, especially in society driven by sexuality. Of course, there are others who disagree with this type of modification claiming that this surgery is putting a patient at risk of infection, scaring and future related illness; however this is only the view of a small group of people as the general view
of society can be seen as being generally accepting towards breast implants. Breast implants have been around since the 1890’s, when doctors first began injecting their patients breasts with paraffin, the results seemingly fine at first, but later causing formations of large masses and infections. An alternative substance was needed and silicone was used for the first time in the form of a liquid injection, however this procedure too resulted in painful inflammation around the breast tissue and other complications. Further development using silicone in the late 1990’s resulted in the creation of silicone gel contained in a shell and inserted into the patient’s breasts. Almost 40 years later, together with collective research and experience, silicone gel implants have proven to be both safe and efficient. And thus far no evidence shows of any infection, disorder, or complication linked to silicone. Author Gary S Brody, in his article “Silicone breast safety and efficacy”, state that surveys show almost six million woman in the US having breast implants, which is 5 percent of the female population. These numbers prove that breast implants have become commonly accepted, and is now sought over by woman of all ages. Gary S Brody reports that woman seeking breast implants are fulfilling a need for a personal importance, and the need for wholeness and self-esteem. Gary Brody also states that surveys consistently show that 90-95 percent of woman are glad that they went through with the procedure even if complications resulted. Therefore it is safe to say that these implants improve the quality of life for these woman.

Current scholarly articles today recognize that breast implants are the top cosmetic surgeries preformed. Most scholarly articles have a general acceptance towards breast implants but all seem to carry one unfailing theme. Author Jeanie Lerche Davis in her article “How will breast implants change your life”, quotes doctor David K Wellisch, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Who claims that patients have an unrealistic expectation of breast implants, he says that “ For these women, breast implant surgery is a Band-Aid approach to a bigger problem, he say they do feel better after this kind of surgery. I 've seen it in my practice. But the surgery cannot transform a fragile or extremely vulnerable sense of self. This commonly accepted form of body modification by scholars, shows that although the surgery is not harmful physically the reasoning behind the desire for the surgery might be masking a greater problem of self-esteem, self-worth and could possibly be linked to psychiatric illness. Another expert in the field, Loren Lipworth, ScD, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, claims that studies show that woman show high levels of satisfaction and an improved quality of life after the surgery, but a decade later the satisfaction fades away. Lipworth says, "It may be that the psychiatric illness gets worse later on, or that it may develop later on. We don 't know for sure." The unfailing theme that was mentioned earlier in this paragraph was that breast implants are not seen by scholars as something physically harmful in this day and age due to the many years of improvements, and research. However, the emotional reasoning behind wanting these implants is what concerns many scholars. This being said Author Gary S Brody states that “Each patient must be individually evaluated and a decision made as to whether the procedure will enhance the quality of her life, her sense of self, and her sense of well-being”. Of course, there are people who disagree with this type of body modification, claiming that there are various complications associated with silicone and saline breast implants, such as; risk of infection, breast and nipple numbness, scar tissue, and the risk of leakage or breakage of silicone or saline.
Another factor that could be seen as an issue for those that disagree with breast implants is that woman who get breast implants are usually unable to breast feed, and may also experience mastitis, with pain, fever, and chills that are more intense than usual due to the implants. However, when researching for contested issues on breast implants, I did not seem to come across any, wondering why this was, I soon came to realize that in today’s society the media has been a huge part of this increasingly popular form of body modification. Hollywood being the number one supporter of breast implants. Woman, young and old influenced by the media, and by what society deems as being “sexually appealing” have come to not only accept this body modification, but also even desire it at one point or another in their lifetime. The general view of society is usually what we as a society have decided is acceptable in our world, and in our world we have accepted that it is our body and we have the right to do with it as we please. A common phrase “If it makes you happy then do it”, is what most people would say the general view on breast implants
is.

Works Cited

Brody, Gary S., MD. "Silicone Breast Implant Safety and Efficacy." Medscape. N.p., 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

Davis, Jeanie Lerche. "How Will Breast Implants Change Your Life." WebMD, Web. 04 Dec. 2013.