cosmetic plastic surgery

I picked up a magazine while I was getting a haircut the other day (Glamour or Allure or one of those), and I was surprised to see a whole section devoted to cosmetic surgery. I was even more surprised to see statistics like "60% of women now approve of cosmetic surgery, 18% more than last year" were seen in a positive light - isn't it great that women finally feel empowered enough to take a knife to their ugly noses? The magazine, along with Christina Hoff Sommers’ speech at CMC (The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men) got me thinking about the original authors of the term "feminism" - and how the term has leapt from them and taken on several contasting connotations of its own.

A few statistics I found from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery: 2004 saw 11.9 million “surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures,” nearly five times as many as in 1997. In 2005, 21% of men said they would consider getting cosmetic plastic surgery, 50% more than men than in 2004. Three out of every five women, and only slightly fewer men (59%) reported that they “generally approve of cosmetic surgery” in 2005. This is 18% more women and 40% more men than approved of plastic surgery in 2004 (ASAPS).

Is this clear upsurge in support for cosmetic surgery simply the result of new technology and changing times? I see it as a symptom of a disturbing superficiality arising in American culture. I wonder if the increase in adults pursuing cosmetic surgery is correlated with recent decreases self esteem in adolescents, or easily-access media portraying perfect bodies everywhere we look. It's easy to say these things don't matter, but surveys like these break my heart:

"When asked "What is the best thing about being a boy?" the most common response among middle school aged boys was "not being a girl." When asked "What is the best thing about being a girl?" the top answer was "I don't know" or "Nothing" followed by responses focusing on hair and shopping." (1998)

-http://www.itvs.org/girlsinamerica/findings.html