The ASU campus is a beautiful thing. Thousands of attractive young women with their perfectly sculpted bodies and bronzed skin populate the University grounds, making ASU the Mecca of good looks in the desert.
It is this youthful vigor and energy that makes my mother long for the days of her youth every time she visits campus. She likes to just sit and watch students walking around, trying to soak in the excitement of ASU as she tells me stories of her college days.
Older generations are always trying to recapture the beauty of youth. And for an increasing number of people in my mother's generation, the answer has become simple: cosmetic surgery.
New statistics released last week by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, show that cosmetic surgeries have increased 20 percent from last year and nearly 300 percent from 1997.
Plastic surgery was once an infrequent practice, reserved exclusively for Hollywood actresses and the ultra-rich. Not so long ago, much of society disapproved of those who had a breast enlargement or nose job. But cosmetic "enhancement" is no longer frowned upon. Cosmetic treatments have become almost commonplace, thanks to changing social attitudes and pressures.
But above all, technical innovation has spurred this change. New techniques have drastically increased safety and lowered costs as surgeries that once cost thousands of dollars have become relatively affordable. As the November 2003 Economist declares, "More than 70 percent of those who come under the knife now earn less than $50,000 a year."
Instead of major surgeries, people are now more often requesting lesser "minimally invasive" techniques to fine-tune specific areas. A tummy tuck here, or a chin lift there are more common nowadays. These new techniques require significantly less recovery time than before, making the choice to undergo them much easier.
In the era of the image consultant, doctors have become artists who provide their clients with a whole gauntlet of services to satisfy their desire for beauty.
TV shows like "Extreme Makeover" and "Nip/Tuck" exhibit this paradigm shift. And Botox is all the hype on female-oriented talk shows like "Oprah." Even the vernacular of surgery has changed - what was once harshly referred to as "going under the knife" has today become casually "having work done" or "taken care of."
New York Times magazine author Mary Tannen says the advent of popular surgery puts a new pressure in the workplace and society in general to have work done. Women who refuse to have surgeries are left at a disadvantage in an image-obsessed society.
But then again, all this fuss isn't for nothing. As the Economist explains, "Being pretty - or just not ugly - confers enormous genetic and social advantages. Attractive people (both men and women) are judged to be more intelligent and better in bed; they earn more, and they are more likely to marry."
Sadly, we at ASU now will also start having to deal with the effects of aging on our bodies in the years to come. But with the revolution in cosmetic surgery that is occurring today, our generation will never have to look or feel old.
Ishtiaque Masud is an economics junior. Reach him at ishtiaque.masud@asu.edu.
