Sociological Study of the Influencing Factors on the Trend Toward Cosmetic Surgery
Georgiana Albina Căiță1,2, Teodor Maghiar3, Florian Dorel Bodog3, Camelia Florentina Lascu1* Florica Voiţă-Mekereş2,3, Hassan Noor4
1Doctoral School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania. 2County Clinical Emergency Hospital of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania. 3Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania. 4Department of Surgical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine" Lucian Blaga," University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania.
Abstract
People always seek to invent ways to beautify and make their bodies look good, and by making changes in their bodies, he seeks to satisfy the natural, spiritual, and social need for beauty. In the last decade, special attention has been paid to medical issues in the form of medical sociology; one of these important cases is cosmetic surgery. Because in today's society, due to many reasons and the emphasis on certain beauty standards (whether right or wrong), appearance has become of great importance, and many people suffer all kinds of hardships because of it. Therefore, the present article tries to identify the factors related to it by sociologically investigating the tendency to beautify with surgery. Based on the results of this study, women's motivation to perform beauty procedures is classified into two general categories: personal motivations (self-oriented motivations) and extra-personal motivations (super-self-oriented motivations). Personal motivations are classified at the micro level of analysis; extra personal motivations are classified into two levels of middle and macro analysis according to the situation and conditions in which people are placed. At the middle level, family and family conditions, and at the macro level, social conditions are the source of motivation to perform effective cosmetic surgery, which is different according to the situation. The results of this study showed that the most important variables affecting cosmetic surgery include the following: perception of the body, social acceptance of the body, level of religiosity, social pressures, self-confidence, cultural-media consumption, socio-economic base, age, being married or single, education and income have an effective role in doing cosmetic surgery.
Keywords: Cosmetic surgery, Beauty, Perception of the body, Self-confidence, Religiosity
INTRODUCTION
Beauty is not for everyone, but for most people in society, it is very important. Many may have realized the importance of beauty in society, but the fact is that beauty represents many things for women, such as social base, reproductive desirability, intelligence, and likelihood she may receive help from passers. People consider attractive people to have positive characteristics while not imagining such a state for unattractive people [1-3]. For Davis, cosmetic surgery can be considered an exercise of power that would not be possible for a person if it is not performed. So, from this point of view, cosmetic surgery can shape a woman's life by changing the shape of her body. On the other hand, cosmetic surgery can be in line with patriarchal values; That is, by resorting to cosmetic surgery, women provide the desired and ideal image of men [4, 5]. Cosmetic surgery is a familiar phenomenon in different countries that has gradually occurred over time, but what is important is that this phenomenon has spread to all sections of society and has become an epidemic and a norm. The increase in the number of people who are seen with taped noses shows that this process has gained significant momentum [6, 7].
The fact is that beauty is a completely natural and common tendency among all humans, but nowadays, the tendency towards beauty has reached the stage of showing off and showing off. Young people, teenagers, and even middle-aged people, according to their tendencies and age requirements, by spending exorbitant costs and accepting physical, mental, and even life consequences, seek to gain a greater share of beauty and seek to become more beautiful. Artificial beauty is perhaps the best term for such manipulations; Manipulations such as lip augmentation, cheek implants, nose reduction, gem implants in the eyes and on the teeth, and piercing various body parts to hang metal rings [8, 9].
Today, cosmetic surgery is one of the most common surgeries in the world, and the number of applicants is increasing daily. Our body image, how we perceive our body, may affect our ability to relate to others and affect the responses others give us. This notion affects the way we experience our bodies in our daily lives and can affect our trust in social situations and the nature of our social relationships [10, 11].
Lowering the level of social self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, and attention to beauty due to the increase of advertisements and advanced medical facilities that have made these practices easier are among the factors of the prevalence of cosmetic surgeries [12, 13]. The tendency of people towards cosmetic surgery and the factors affecting it is an important issue that needs to be investigated, and it raises the question: Why do most women apply for cosmetic surgery, even though there is no need for this surgery from a scientific and aesthetic point of view; why do they have cosmetic surgery?
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The first evidence of plastic reconstructive surgery was found in Sanskrit texts 2,600 years ago. In ancient India, many criminals cut off the body parts of their victims. Also, the judicial system at that time ordered the cutting off of their body parts, including noses, to punish criminals. Therefore, it is natural that there was a great need for reconstructive surgery at that time, a need that led to the creation of basic forms of plastic surgery [14, 15]. Today's medical techniques on which cosmetic surgery is based appeared in the years after World War I when wounded soldiers were returning from the front. Plastic surgery to restore the soft tissues of the body owes its rapid progress to these injuries and burns after the war. Later, two concepts were distinguished: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. The first refers to restoring the appearance of a body or its function to a normal state after injury or disability, and the second refers to changes in the body that previously had normal parameters [16, 17].
Beauty in American culture is related to a person's whole life, from the beginning of childhood to adulthood and old age. Most children in America share memories of reading the children's story books of Cinderella and Snow White, in which the beautiful appearance of young girls is highly praised, while the ugliness is viewed as highly devalued. The beauty effect of attractiveness is institutionalized in children by parents, educators, other adults, and peers during childhood, and then beauty is reinforced in adulthood. It can be seen that attractive people in adulthood receive more job offers than unattractive applicants, especially in the employment of women, and physical attractiveness plays an important role in the relationship between people and their partners [1, 18]. Beauty is a subject that is influenced by the agreed standards of the dominant class and has different definitions among different cultures and periods. There have been obvious changes in people's perception and understanding of beauty, which seems to be the result of the influence of socio-cultural principles on people's opinions about beauty [8, 19, 20]. With these interpretations, if we want to take a comprehensive look at the causes of people's tendency towards cosmetic surgery, we are bound to address it from a sociological perspective. In the meantime, it is necessary to explain the subject under study based on the sociology of the body, identity and women's body, social capital, cultural capital, and religious beliefs. Social capital is one of the variables discussed and related to the tendency to plastic surgery in this research. Capital here refers to types of mutual trust and norms arising from relationships between people. In other words, social capital is a set of potential resources that are created by membership in the social networks of activists and organizations. Therefore, it includes relationships of trust and reciprocity (like-for-like dealings) in social networks, and people can use this capital in its various forms in the form of social support, emotional support, instrumental support, and mutual trust. And between people, participation in affairs, relationships between people, etc., to benefit [21-24].
Nan Lin believes that social capital is a tool to consolidate and defend against the possible loss of resources. He notes three types of returns in this type of relationship: physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction, which show optimism and satisfaction in the field. There are different aspects of life, such as family, marriage, work, body, society, and environment [25, 26]. According to James Coleman, social capital represents a resource because it includes networks based on trust and shared values. For Coleman, the concept of social capital is a means to explain how people cooperate and collaborate [27, 28].
Social networks, as another dimension of social capital, are effective in people's tendency towards cosmetic surgery. In other words, people on social networks who are members take certain actions, such as cosmetic surgery, by seeking their approval because they are interested in not looking bad in the eyes of social network members [29]. The second variable mentioned in the current research, whose relationship with the plastic surgery variable is studied, is the cultural capital variable. This capital exists in different forms, including long-standing tendencies and habits that have been obtained in the socialization process, the accumulation of valuable cultural objects such as paintings and academic qualifications, and formal education. In his body analysis, Pierre Bourdieu points to the commodification of the body in modern societies, which appears as physical capital. He believes that the production of this physical capital depends on the growth and expansion of the body so that the body becomes a carrier of value in social contexts. As a comprehensive form of physical capital, the body is distinguished by its social status and symbolic forms. By considering the body as a physical asset, he connects the identities of people with social values corresponding to the shape and appearance of the body [30, 31].
The third thing that can be closely related to the variable of plastic surgery is the religious beliefs in the society in which the person lives. Religious beliefs deeply impact people's lives in all stages of their lives, and this impact will be double, especially in a society deeply rooted in religion. Accordingly, such conditions prevail in most Islamic countries and the Middle East and such surgeries are performed under the influence of religious beliefs and factors. The human body includes a set of abilities and limitations, and at all stages of life, it is under the influence of the cultural-social requirements of the society in which it lives. Social expectations affect the structure of the body and its physical capabilities. Some sociologists consider the body to be a social construct based on the high intermingling of the physical dimension of a man with social-cultural components [32, 33].
The social class of people has a profound effect on how they perceive and treat their bodies in terms of appearance, weight, makeup, symbolic values, etc. The body is a kind of social capital whose value is through the ability of dominant groups to introduce the body and style. According to Anthony Giddens, self-makeup and facial and body surgery are related to the dynamics of personality; that is, in addition to being an important means of concealing and revealing different aspects of personal life, it is also considered a means of showing off. Because they link common customs and principles to personal identity. According to him, facial and body expressions provide signs that our daily communication is conditioned by and for a person to be able to produce and reproduce equally with others. To participate in social relations, he must be able to monitor his face and body continuously. A person becomes more and more responsible for designing his body [34, 35].
With these interpretations, it is clear that the body is not only a tool for action and reaction but a natural device that the owner must take care of carefully; one of these forms is the maintenance and care of cosmetic surgery. It would be quite short-sighted if cosmetic surgery is only interpreted and analyzed as changing the ideal patterns of physical appearance. Women attach more importance to their physical attractiveness. In other words, a woman considers herself valuable when she can continue her perfect life based on cosmetic surgery. He is trying to find a sense of security in a world full of many but ambiguous choices. When the environment and the social world are out of human control, the body becomes a safe anchorage with which people can develop their identity. In this self-reinvention and systematic control of the body becomes a way to preserve the history of human identity. This process can be seen in the increasing tendency of people to use guidebooks on health, fitness, diets, sports, and plastic and cosmetic surgery. Therefore, in modern society, where the rate of change and adaptation increases and life conditions become uncertain, a man tries to continue his identity by strengthening and consolidating his physical aspects [36, 37].
CONCLUSION
In recent decades, the trend towards cosmetic surgeries has increased a lot, So surgical procedures such as eyelid surgery, liposuction, nose surgery, and things like them are much more welcomed than before [29]. In a research titled "Beauty, Symbol, and Dignity," the obtained results show that the attractiveness of the face creates predictable differences in general and specific social communication, and the effects and attractiveness of the face can be combined with other dignified characteristics [38]. In another research, Adelman believes that the physical body and the cultural and symbolic structure are inseparable, so special sports exercises encourage women to own the body they want [39]. Based on part of Jenkins et al.'s research results, it can be concluded that religious factors in the tendency towards cosmetic surgery have a role [40]. According to some of the results of the research that has been done in Saudi Arabia, the trend toward cosmetic surgery is influenced by religious and religious factors [41].
Park Lora et al. [42], in a research on the general topic of cosmetic surgery, concluded that peers, friends, and parents, in other words, social capital, can cause people to be interested or not interested in cosmetic surgery. The results of the aforementioned research show that the overall interaction between the person and the person's situation can influence a person's interest in cosmetic surgery [42]. In research conducted on the general topic of cosmetic surgery, the results showed that the tendency for cosmetic surgery was more among women than men. In other words, the age of women has been an influential factor regarding the studied phenomenon, i.e., the tendency for cosmetic surgery [29].
According to the results obtained from various studies, performing cosmetic surgery is related to self-confidence and social acceptance of the body, religiosity, cultural-media consumption, and socio-economic base. Performing cosmetic surgery is related to media-cultural consumption and socio-economic base.
According to the results obtained from various studies, performing cosmetic surgery is related to self-confidence and social acceptance of the body, religiosity, cultural-media consumption, and socio-economic base. Performing cosmetic surgery is related to media-cultural consumption and socio-economic base. It is suggested that people undergo psychological evaluations before undergoing cosmetic surgeries, and instead of incurring irreparable costs and complications, psychological treatments should be given. It is suggested that people talk to a consultant for a short period before undergoing cosmetic surgery, which will reduce the amount of these surgeries if they increase their happiness and increase their positive feelings of well-being.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: None
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None
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ETHICS STATEMENT: None
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