Fragrantly Beautiful

Beauty by knife

By Lady Ochel C. Espinosa

For those with etiquette, they do not blurt it out; they merely think it - and bask in the knowledge that they are a few pounds lighter.

People have recently told me that I lost weight, to which I have reacted with a smile - that was bound to be a compliment, wasn't it? I've actually heard people say "thanks" when I tell them that they have lost weight. But a thought suddenly struck me: "Since when was being thin a criterion for being beautiful? How many other screwed-up notions do we have about beauty?"

Screwed up notions

Pages in broadsheets scream cosmetic enhancement -- a world where cellulite is a mortal sin, and true love is a cup size away. I know that it has been said countless times that Media is to be blamed for our obsession with Western standards of beauty. "I think we underestimate how much power the Western media still have on the East," says fashionista and registered medical technologist Trish Bolivar. "In almost every movie you go to, the star is Western. You establish in your mind that they are more beautiful."

According to an article in Asia Week, "...the most popular cosmetic surgical procedures in Asia are the 'double-eyelid operation' and nose-bridge surgery, in which bone is shaved from a patient's hip or rib and piled on to the existing nose bone. Both are usually intended to make a patient look more Western."

Despite this overwhelming awareness of what is wrong with our mentality, we still choose to undermine our Asian features and live as eternal Caucasian beauty copycats.

Worm's eye view

It doesn't help that we live in an age where beauty is bought, and tampering with nature is a lucrative business. With this in mind, the only thing that's stopping anyone is the cost. Still, an estimated 10 million people will undergo surgical enhancement this year. Surgery has become something commercialized, no longer the taboo it once was.

No wonder all types of medical practitioners have rushed into this field, regardless of being qualified or not. Thus, there is an increasing need to make an informed choice when choosing to go under the knife. Otherwise, you may be a victim of an extremely effective promotional campaign.

Keep in mind that tampering with nature has its consequences -- you may end up with a surgeon who will do more bane than boon. For instance, there was the case of Janet Ang, a 36-year-old Filipina stewardess who died of irreversible shock (occurs when a patient experiences severe pain) while undergoing thigh liposuction.

Another case was Mona Alley's tummy tuck in South Florida, wherein the doctor accidentally pierced through her abdominal wall and feces spilled over to her stomach. Her legs were amputated because of severe blod clots.

More morbid examples are not needed for you to get the point. Beauty can be bought at a price -- but sometimes, the price one pays is an amputated limb, or worse, death.

Deal or no deal?

Our misconceptions about beauty may bring about similar fates. Going under the knife is not wrong, but make sure you do it for the right reasons, and not because of the insecurities that society has imposed on you.

Just think that last year, sun-kissed, black-haired and full-bodied Precious Lara Quigaman beats 51 beauties around the world by winning Miss International. After 26 years, a Filipina beauty was again crowned! Caucasians were only awarded as runners-up.

Perhaps this is a sign that we should reassess our standards of the beautiful Filipina -- we are Beauty Queen material, after all.

posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 9:11 AM