A few weeks ago novelist Olivia Goldsmith died at age 54. She topped the bestseller list with a series of novels about middle aged women whose husbands left them for twentysomething women. She died due to complicatons during a facelift, cardiac arrest I think.

A local newspaper featured an article called "dying for beauty" that chronicled the cases of people, primarily women, who had died in the process of plastic surgery procedures, mostly common ones. Complications from anasthesia, cardiac arrest, or just shock. Needless to say "stop and shop" cosmetic procedures are extremely popular in South Florida..a little lipo here, a lift, a tuck. There were also comments on how deeply into credit card and loan debt people with middle class incomes were getting in order to have this stuff done. I know 2 people who had their procedures then declared bankruptcy to get out from under the bills. Their faces and tummies will be tighter for a while but they won't be able to buy a house or a car, or pass a job related credit check after their youthful looks get them past the initial interview.

I watch "The Swan"..I got lured in because it came on after "Idol"..fortunately its not tooo time comsuming. If you watch the last 20 minutes you get to see the "reveals", a replay of the "before" videos and who wins for the night.
The recurring theme among these women about their lives as average looking women or women who have one "bad" feature is that they have been subjected to cruelty because of their looks. A woman with a long nose got called names in school, a woman with acne scars (moderate, not ghastly) afraid to leave her home cause she gets stared at, a woman who gained weight post-pregnancy suffers emotional abuse from her spouse because she isn't a hottie anymore then indulges in emotional eating for consolation and gains more weight.

What are we doing here. We are raising the bar to an unattainable level..trying to make real people look like the folks in magazines who are the end product of makeup artists, stylists and photo enhancement. OK fine, if thats what they want. But what disturbs me is that as the bar gets raised those who don't jump in wallet first become subject to cruelty or criticism because they don't meet this standard that is unattainable in nature. And the standard gets higher every day.

These surgical procedures carry the same risks as
non-elective surgery. Complications can occur, the surgeons can make mistakes leaving results that sometimes dont live up to expectations and sometimes even look worse than before. Families are sacrificing necessities to have their teenagers "worked on" so they wont be bullied by their peers. People are going deep into debt so they can look like the celebrities in "In Style" magazine.

At the Jax Jazz Festival Sunday after yet another bout of rain I was looking out over the crowd of wet, happy people and everyone there was average looking. Crows feet, not stick thin, frizzy humidity hair (or receding hair) smiling, dancing and having a grand old time with their friends.. To me they looked much more beautiful than the end product androids on Extreme Makeover and The Swan.

Hopefully others will start to feel this way soon and there will be a backlash. There usually is when someting gets out of hand. I passed out when I got my ears pierced so the chances of me following Olivia into the grave if I have to be hacked at are pretty high..so let it happen soon, please!!

It is a very scary trend in this country. Our society is obsessed with looking young at whatever cost yet at the same time we are a morbidly obese society too. What kind of body image is that? It's really bizarre.
I have to admit, at 47, I have certainly entertained the idea of plastic surgery and yes - it's out of pure vanity. I would like to get rid of ages old acne scars and get a bit of the "fluff" under the old eyes tucked in a bit but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still a 47 year old woman and no amount of plastic surgery can change that. Instead I eat right (trying to lose 10 lbs I gained when I quit smoking 6 months ago) work out at a gym 4 days a week, and try to walk as much as I can to keep my ass from sliding the rest of the way down the back of my thighs and try to enjoy being 47.
I honestly don't think our culture of "looks over substance or personality" will ever change. It has truly been that way since the beginning of time. Various eras had different ideas of what constituted beauty but good looks have always been a part human beings. Now with just about every quack with a medical degree performing some sort of plastic surgery these deaths will continue to happen.
If you're going to have it done - check the doc out - make sure he or she IS qualified to do the procedure you're having and for pete's sake DON'T ever have it done in an office setting unless you have thoroughly checked out their anesthesiology procedures and emergency procedures.

Good points...and to add insult to injury you've got TV constantly running Coors Light (and others) commercials with perfect 10 hotties all partying together while McDonalds is forcing 3,000 calorie "supersize" meals down our throats. How can we possibly stay thin and pretty

When I first saw the commercials for "The Swan", I was appalled. Even now, I cringe whenever the commercials air. I think it's very insulting to say there is anything wrong with these women. Then to pit them against one another in some stupid beauty pagent is adding insult to injury. These women are average, normal people, just like most of us. Nobody has perfect features. We all have little "things" about ourselves that give us our own unique looks. I have a black dot (mole) right between my eyebrows. (It looks like a smaller version of an Indian mole.) Last year, a doctor asked me if I wanted to remove it. I said no, I do not. It doesn't bother me, and, I think it's kind of cute. It's uniquely mine, and I like it.

I've never been attracted to men who have that skinny, chiseled, pretty boy, model look. Give me a face with some character, a guy with a little meat on his bones. Give me a rugged "manly man" any day!

Okay, back to cosmetic surgery. I think Shannon brings up a good point. It's so common nowadays that people hear the cosmetic part, but forget the surgery aspect, and all the risks associated with it. Even with today's advances in medical technology, surgery is still surgery. Someone is putting you under, cutting you open, and inserting or taking things out of your body.

Remember a few years ago the problems women with silicone breast implants had?

Most of the men I've met with those "movie star" looks turned out to be gay anyway so go figure!

You have to be under 45 to apply to be on the swan

I am appauled at these kinds of shows and WON'T even watch them. To make people think that just to have a nose job or a nip and tuck there is going to make them a "better" person or "solve" all their problems is just HOGWASH! More plastic people running around in an overwhelmingly plastic world! How nauseating! :p

Wrinkles and what not may not be PRETTY but at least they're REAL and so are the people who have them. Give me a world of "unperfect" people to a world of "perfect dept. store mannequins" any day of the week! Reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode!

disturbing trend, didn't people learn from Cher and Michael Jackson?

You said it Kat. No frickin' kidding!

And Joan Rivers?

I, too, started watching this program out of curiosity. True, it's amazing what they can do these days, but each woman is just SO completely transformed, she is unrecognizable! :rolleyes:

I have come to the conclusion that the whole concept of this program is "sick". People should not have to go to such extreme lengths, completely changing their entire physical appearance, in order to feel good about themselves. Sure, if you've got a HUGE nose, and can afford to fix it, fine. Or really bad teeth, get them fixed if you can. But, a complete, head to toe transformation?? I dunno, seems like something out of a horror movie...the Bride of Frankenstein or something.

Then, watching that program tends to make us "normal" people, who of course, have flaws, here, there and everywhere...well, it could make us daydream about...what if? If only I could fix this or that. In other words, it could make us long for something we could NEVER have! And that, of course, would make us feel even worse about ourselves than before!

One thing I have noticed that sort of seems to be very "telling" about these women who would go to such extremes: After watching the show many times, it suddenly hit me...what does every single one of them say when they see themselves for the first time? What are the very first words out of their mouths? (No kidding...EVERY episode I watched!) The words: "Oh, my GOD".

It's as if they are admitting, albeit subconciously, that their "ego" has become their "god".

I've since decided not to watch it anymore.

well, we all have our beauty or makebetter rituals... but The Swan is extreme and encourages women to the wrong levels.

I personally enjoy having my eyebrows shaped by the salon. When I do them, one is always crooked or thinner than the other.

I also like my sunless tanner. but the biggest problem is that I miss a spot in the middle of my back because I can't reach it.

Anyhow, these little rituals are very small when compared to The Swan.

yeah Kat, we all have our "ritual's" but as you stated....at least yours doesn't contain expensive,invasive and can be DANGEROUS medical procedures. There is NOTHING wrong with "taking care" of oneself...which I consider it is when you talk about having a salon do your brows vs. you doing them yourself or a sunless tanner. Hey, at least you LOVE your skin and don't want to end up with skin cancer! Have a friend do your back or get some kind of...oh, I don't know....I'd think that some "high end" beauty boutique of some sort would have some kind of long handled thing that DOESN'T have a scrubber on the end where you could put the sunless tanning gel or creme on it and then, apply it to your back? If not....maybe I should INVENT one! May sound weird but hey....someone had to invent the stuff we use NOW and don't think about, right?