`` Dad, Can I Please Get A Nose Job - 1512 Words

â€Å"Dad, can I please get a nose job?† I was only 15 when I asked that question. Six months later, after my freshman year of high school, I was being hooked up to an I.V. at 7:00 am, ready to go under the knife. The huge bump on my nose always bothered me when I looked at pictures of my profiled face. It seemed like every woman I was surrounded by, both celebrities who have gotten plastic surgery, and even my friends who never had plastic surgery, had a cute, smooth, feminine nose. I wanted to look like them—I wanted my nose to fit in with all the other girls’ noses. No one would even second-guess a teenager getting a nose job in Los Angeles because it has become apart of the culture. Growing up in L.A. I have been surrounded by the†¦show more content†¦Then maybe the mirror stops tormenting you†(Tandy). In her 2005 essay â€Å"The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery,† Camille Paglia condemns the â€Å"routine† plastic surgery middle-aged women receive in order to fit society’s youthful mold. Even though she acknowledges the artfulness that can go into the cosmetic surgery, Paglia despises the â€Å"generic cookie cutter sameness.† With the advancement in the medical technology and the accessibility of treatments like Botox, the amount of women who receive surgery has drastically increased over the past ten years. Due to the withstanding social expectations for a youthful, feminine appearance, I agree with Paglia s argument that women are constantly pressured to go under the knife in order for their aesthetics to meet cultural standards. By opening her essay with a bold, positive claim contrary to the rest of her views on Plastic surgery, Paglia successfully addresses the merits of cosmetic surgeons. She addresses how â€Å"plastic surgery is a living sculpture†¦people have become their own works of art †(Paglia 692, 1). Usually, when one thinks of a sculpture, he or she would imagine something like the Venus de Milo, something that is admired by anyone who sets his or her eyes upon it. It is apropos for one to applause the time and effort it takes for an artist to create a sculpture before criticizing his or her work. Plastic Surgeons are the artists of humans—it takes years of