08-20-2013, 11:50 PM
I want all your opinions on this. Am I being too politically correct/has my white knightiness gone to Due levels or do you agree with me, at least to an extent? I realized today that I am against aesthetic surgery. I don't think we should make it illegal, oddly enough. But nonetheless I am against it. I've only thought about it a lot today, so my opinion is still embryonic and subject to change.
As a matter of principle, I am against surgery that is aesthetic, i.e. nose jobs, breast implants, facelifts, etc. because it shows that 1) the person who has them is a fake, not showing who she (usually it's a she) actually is, 2) has low self-esteem and instead of fixing the problem directly (psychology, counseling, etc.), merely covers it through hedonistic means that will disappear with time or even only get worse, 3) it's (in my opinion at least) disgusting/unattractive, sometimes physically speaking, but mostly when it comes to the principle, like how a smoker is in my opinion unattractive because he/she does something unnecessary that is also very unhealthy, 4) the person is most likely superficial and cares about asinine stupidities such as looks to such a degree (some concern about looks is fine and sometimes encouraged, but not to the point of permanent bodily change. For example, someone who doesn't at all care for his/her looks can have a negative first impression at a job interview or when meeting someone new).
Previous parenthesis in mind, I am more fine, however, with tattoos, shaving, cutting hair, dyeing hair, makeup and piercings, as the changes are minute and reversible/temporary, and you aren't "improving" the temple that is your body, but using it as a canvas. You're not fixing what isn't broken. I'm only a fraction of a rabbi, if you will.
I am for medical surgery, of course. So breast reduction, for example, to help alleviate back aches, is fine and probably a good thing. If somehow, your face droops so much that you trip onto it and hurt yourself, then facelift is fine and a good measure to take. I might even consider a sex-change operation for transsexuals to be a medical operation (although I'm still debating about it with myself).
Otherwise, I believe it's a bad way to spend your money and is, again, as a matter of principle, disgusting. There are some places where 15 year old children (including someone I know who wants one) can choose to get a nose job, and I find it scandalous. The surgeon who takes advantage of people at an age where self-esteem problems are at their peak, especially for money, is an absolute charlatan, and the children are, in my book, abused, since most 15-year olds (of course there are exceptions, some of which I have seen on UG and here on MTB) have barely any sense of responsibility, don't know what they truly want, and often lack analytical skills. It's scandalous that such a permission is legal in certain places. The exception to me would be if a person was in a fiery car accident and had lost all their hair, or something of the likes (although I'd have a lot of admiration for those who accept what they now look like and, say, go on and become motivational speakers or something).
People need to stop worrying so much about looks and other superficial things.
Does anybody else feel the same way?
As a matter of principle, I am against surgery that is aesthetic, i.e. nose jobs, breast implants, facelifts, etc. because it shows that 1) the person who has them is a fake, not showing who she (usually it's a she) actually is, 2) has low self-esteem and instead of fixing the problem directly (psychology, counseling, etc.), merely covers it through hedonistic means that will disappear with time or even only get worse, 3) it's (in my opinion at least) disgusting/unattractive, sometimes physically speaking, but mostly when it comes to the principle, like how a smoker is in my opinion unattractive because he/she does something unnecessary that is also very unhealthy, 4) the person is most likely superficial and cares about asinine stupidities such as looks to such a degree (some concern about looks is fine and sometimes encouraged, but not to the point of permanent bodily change. For example, someone who doesn't at all care for his/her looks can have a negative first impression at a job interview or when meeting someone new).
Previous parenthesis in mind, I am more fine, however, with tattoos, shaving, cutting hair, dyeing hair, makeup and piercings, as the changes are minute and reversible/temporary, and you aren't "improving" the temple that is your body, but using it as a canvas. You're not fixing what isn't broken. I'm only a fraction of a rabbi, if you will.
I am for medical surgery, of course. So breast reduction, for example, to help alleviate back aches, is fine and probably a good thing. If somehow, your face droops so much that you trip onto it and hurt yourself, then facelift is fine and a good measure to take. I might even consider a sex-change operation for transsexuals to be a medical operation (although I'm still debating about it with myself).
Otherwise, I believe it's a bad way to spend your money and is, again, as a matter of principle, disgusting. There are some places where 15 year old children (including someone I know who wants one) can choose to get a nose job, and I find it scandalous. The surgeon who takes advantage of people at an age where self-esteem problems are at their peak, especially for money, is an absolute charlatan, and the children are, in my book, abused, since most 15-year olds (of course there are exceptions, some of which I have seen on UG and here on MTB) have barely any sense of responsibility, don't know what they truly want, and often lack analytical skills. It's scandalous that such a permission is legal in certain places. The exception to me would be if a person was in a fiery car accident and had lost all their hair, or something of the likes (although I'd have a lot of admiration for those who accept what they now look like and, say, go on and become motivational speakers or something).
People need to stop worrying so much about looks and other superficial things.
Does anybody else feel the same way?