Cosmetic Surgery

Hopkins 1 Now more than ever it seems that North America is obsessed with looking desirable. While the want to look pleasing in the eyes of another is something that has been happening for centuries, the recent idea of what beauty is, tends to be quite limited. Aging women feel pressure from media and mirrors to look a particular way, no matter how hard the calendar has worked against them. With new technology and the constant discovery of surgical procedures which can be performed on the human body, women are seeking dangerous and costly ways to "fix" their faces. Anti-aging is not the answer and women need to stop hiding their real bodies with replacement pieces put together by medical professionals in order to pause time for as long as they can get away with. Reading Catherine Redfern 's article "The Beauty Myth", I realized that there is much more meaning wrapped around a wrinkle than I had presumed. Redfern focuses on the "anti-aging" claims made by the Olay Company. Apparently there are "seven signs of aging" all women should look out for someday (Redfern pp. 2). Given out by the Olay beauty company, they include lines and wrinkles, uneven skin texture, uneven skin tone, noticeable pores, age spots, dry skin and skin dullness (Redfern pp. 3). Of course Olay uses these signs to diagnose a woman with aging skin only to prescribe their famous Total Effects line of products, with a promised result to reverse the look of aging skin (Redfern pp. 4). This pointless process of using a lotion every night to keep the look of smooth skin is expected to start at a young age and continue for the rest of a woman 's life. The companies making age defying products constantly put out negative images surrounding the thought of getting older, often using young actresses and models with naturally line-free skin to promote their products (Redfern pp. 7). Although profit is a
Hopkins 2 large factor of having a successful company, the idea of beauty presented to

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