I'm not completely oblivious. I know we live in a world where each of us is judged by our appearance. We all make instant judgments about people based solely on appearance. It's an ugly truth, but it is true.

The dark side of this is that people who can afford to "fix" the things that others might judge them unfairly for will pay to have these features "fixed." And while I do appreciate Ashlee Simpson's new nose or my neighbor's big bouncy fake cans, I didn't honestly mind Ashlee's old nose and my neighbor's old cans were probably just fine (even though I can't remember what they were like before, having never seen them exposed). So I'm kind of irritated about the whole "if you don't feel good about yourself, just pay a plastic surgeon to fix it" attitude that so many people have.

And shit like this isn't helping anyone.



That shit pisses me off. If it was only fat, hook-nosed, horrific beasts like me going under the knife, we would be okay. I might be able to buy the argument that we're making the world a better place by eliminating a lot of the ugliness. But it's young girls (or slightly "aulder" girls) who hear this shit and think they need to "get prettier" when they're already beautiful. Grrr!

I hate to actually agree with anyone, especially a psychologist, but this time one of them is actually making sense.

Remember all the legislation around marketing cigarettes to kids (the cartoonish Joe Camel, candy cigarettes, etc)? I find this way more damaging to future generation than those marketing campaigns.

I seem to remember reading a comment by one of our very own members about getting plastic cans installed. I wonder what she'll think about all this...

I don't have any problem with people getting these things done. I, too, have a neightbor that had some things done. She got bigger boobs. Although the factory installed ones were a bit small, they looked nice on her small gymnast frame. Not that I saw them in person, just clothed. And she got a nose job, which nobody thought she needed. If somebody wants to "improve" their body, then fine. But I do have a problem with this book. Young girls are getting slammed with images from Madison Avenue! Now they have a book that talks about a person, one that embodies the whole world to them, that they need to have things done to look better. What if this little girl has been told she is the spitting image of her mother? Now she thinks she will need the same stuff done. If mommy isn't pretty enough, then she must have the same problem. Nice!

If plastic surgery is the be all and end all to improve your looks, wtf happened here?

I take it this is one person! The first pic is nice the rest is just laughable!

This is the one and only Jocelyn Wildenstein.

It's no secret that I've had plastic surgery before. I had something done that was obvious to absolutely no one but me. Until recently, I was always tiny; however, I gained a massive amount of weight with my first two pregnancies. I lost the weight, but as a result, my stomach was a flabby, disgusting mess. It bothered no one but me. Four years ago when I had to have an abdominal muscle repair, my surgeon did a tummy tuck at the same time.

I don't think I can even begin to describe the difference the procedure made in my mind. It was one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

I never intended on having any children after my second child was born. Needless to say, my stomach is right back in the position it was before my surgery. Now that I've had my "parts" removed, I fully intend on having a second procedure in a few years. (No reputable surgeon would do the operation now because I'm not at a healthy weight.)

My kids don't even know that I had anything done. I don't ever plan on mentioning it to my daughters. Even my 17 year old thinks I just had the muscle repair done.

As far as my boobs are concerned, I don't want massive breasts. What I would like is to have them put back in proper position.

Look, I'm the first person that will hop up on a soapbox and scream about how women are walking around with lower than low self-esteem because we'll never be able to attain the level of perfection we see in magazines or on television. There are far too many people out there having their body parts hacked on because their significant other was drooling over some porn star's tits, but there are those of us doing it for ourselves.

My wife's parents let her have the nose job she asked for when she was 15. Her Dad drove her to the surgeon (in a different state) and they fully supported her choice to get it done. She tells me that it made her a completely different person - more outgoing, friendly, etc. She hasn't had anything else done, but she thinks about what else she can have done all the time. She's even talked to me about planning for a mild facelift before anything drops to drastically so that it won't be as noticable. I was never brought up to be self-aware of such things. There is the absolute truth that "English have bad teeth" and no-one I know cares unless they have had to deal with an American who has brought it to their attention.

I think you are right. We Americans do get caught up a little too much sometimes in the whole self image idea. A little here or there is ok if it helps improve your self esteem. But then you have situations like the pictures above or people like Bruce Jenner, Donny Osmond, or Joan Rivers. In those cases, I think they went too far because they now like plastic dolls. Sometimes it seems like people really do want to look like a Ken or Barbie doll…all plastic and shiny!

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of Europeans that have work done... Look at Victoria Beckham. So, I'm not trying to say that Americans are bad. I'm just stating that in my youth and 20's I never even thought about plastic surgery, let alone had anyone I was close to that considered it. This could also be a working class thing. Clearly it's an entitlement for the wealthy (with exceptions).

What concerns me is that my wife looks at my daughter with the same eye, and debates (with me) whether she'll want things worked on as she grows older. And I try to point out that my kid won't necessarily have those thoughts unless my wife somehow projects them onto her. I just find it to be a strange outlook, but then again I'm the type of guy that accepts I'm losing my hair and I believe it's just one of those things I have to live with.

I never took any of it as a slam on Americans. I knew where you were coming from. I agree with you about your wife and kids. If you don't project those thoughts into them, then it is less likely that they will have them.

My wife has mentioned , half-jokingly I think, getting implants a couple of times. I've assured her that her natural assets are more than enough to satisfy me (and they honestly are), but she's well aware of the way a chick with a really good set of knockers catches a guy's eye. It's not like I go out of my way to oogle other broads' chests...it just sort of happens.

She's also a slave to the media's perceptions of what she should look like.

So the outlook of my daughters never being exposed to the "if I want to look better, I just need plastic surgery" mindset is pretty good, but not absolute.

Frankly, I'm more concerned with getting my kids through their schooling with a minimum of emotional scarring from the mind games the little bitches at their schools will ultimately be playing. And with keeping them from becoming clones of the aforementioned little bitches.

As for me, I'm declining without much concern. The hair is all still there, but the rest of me is...steadily deteriorating. And I'm okay with that. I do want to stay healthy enough to avoid heart disease/cancer, but I'm not concerned about impressing anyone with my manly physique. And strangely, my wife seems happy with her ever-more-trollish husband's appearance.

Double standards, how I love thee.

Huh? Are you talking about me? What'd I say?

I wasn't talking about you. My statement was made because of this:



It seems most all women feel this way. I don't care that the boy has a big belly or that he's going bald, but he damn sure cares that I have a belly. So many men "trade in" their wives for younger women. I wonder, why? We love our men, wrinkles and all, but men don't seem to have the same set of standards that we do.

My wife isn't exactly the skinny little waif I married (and bitches about being fat daily), but the extra weight hasn't been an issue for me. She and I could both stand to lose some weight and she actually makes an effort to keep her weight under control. Which is good since she loves eating out - otherwise, she'd probably be huge.

I did stray once. And it was a younger woman (two years her junior) who actually wasn't any thinner than my wife. But it wasn't about physical deficiencies in my wife or comparative physical traits in the "other woman." It was all about being able to open up with the other woman when my own wife was unwilling (and in many ways, still is unwilling) to listen/share without judgment, tears and never-ending (to this day) torture for having opened up about the past.

It's not always about looks. I'm sure many times it is, but not always.

I had to be the one to marry the woman who cares... Mine reminds me daily (not joking) that I'm not the man she married. Must be why I sleep on the couch.

My hand never says a thing about how I look.

Best. Relationship. EVAR.