If there's one thing that bothers me about this country...

[MrScorpio]

It's the insidious way that Americans go out of their way to make each other feel inadequate.

Which is why we end up with people looking like this:




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/30/phillip-toledano_n_1554061.html?

[pennylane100]

1. Well at least there is only one thing,

That is a pretty optimistic view.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Wait'll thedivision between the 1% & the 99% grows a little further.

We'll end up turning into Brazil.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/05/11/china-brazil-usa-lead-for-plastic-surgery-why/

[Swede]

3. They really do look related,like the article states.

Not quit human,also.

[demosincebirth]

4. Imagine them without makeup. Both sexes.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. I never got the big lip thing.

Makes people look like they are going into anaphylactic shock.

That goes for Angelina Jolie, Lisa Rinna and everyone else in Hollyweird that promotes that look. It is just not attractive, IMO.

[SGMRTDARMY]

12. Don't forget Liv and Steven Tyler.

[GoCubsGo]

17. Supposedly, full lips are more sexually attractive.

But, what the people who do this kind of shit don't seem to realize is that there is far more to being sexually attractive than one's looks. That being said, I don't get the whole thing, either. I've seen women whose lips were so plumped, one could balance a pencil on their upper lip. Were they in that in need of a pencil rest or what?

[Blue_In_AK]

6. It seems kind of creepy to me.

[Confusious]

7. True, standards of beauty have changed

But they have always been something most people can attain, in a sense. Not everyone could be twiggy or George clooney, but you could look good with a little work.

I highly doubt that we will all be able to afford plastic surgery, which means it will be limited to a few, and they will always look strange. Of course, I'm also reminded of the twilight zone episode.

Another thing is that as humans, we are hardwired to recognize faces. When a face looks strange to us, i.e. not not natural, we notice. Video game makers have been seeing this lately as the hardware allows them to create more realistic faces. There's a point crossed where it just looks "weird" and "not right."

[Ship of Fools]

16. I'm reminded of the movie "Brazil"

"I'm having complications with my complications!"

[baldguy]

8. Keep sharp objects away from them. They might go *pop* & flutter away.

[Zax2me]

9. You think this is limited to Americans?

What a classic America-only closed world view you have.
But since it is a negative one, it's okay - right?!

[MrScorpio]

14. Show me where I wrote that this is something that's only done in America

Or perhaps I should have cited the inadequacies of other countries for your satisfaction.

[treestar]

10. Makes a good point in how they all look alike

I've observed that before - you see so many of them on TV - even if plastic surgery is not involved - that you notice they look similar. The ideas of who is beautiful are perhaps too limited.

[lunatica]

11. I find any body alterations to be fascinating on many levels

People have always altered their bodies. Way back to the Stone Age and since. How many 'royalty' tombs have people with tattoos on them?

Elongated heads all over the world and throughout history:

The Ta Moko traditional tattoos by the Maori in New Zealand:



http://zealandtattoo.co.nz/tattoo-styles/maori-tattoos/

I think the people doing these particular facial and body alterations obviously love that particular look, not that someone has bullied them into getting it.

Although I do believe you're right when it comes to Hollywood and the modelling industry, since these alterations all seem to be pressured from outside not by society, but by industries. So I do see a difference between modern self chosen alterations and those imposed by money making industries to set a standard. There's just no comparison between the choice made by people with modern tattoos and the ones made by fake industry standards.

[MrScorpio]

13. I completely agree with you. nt

[Lenov]

21. Tribal tattoos are form of something really fascinating

People from Polynesian Tribes treat their tattoos really serious. Only people from highter parts of society can wear tattoos on face. Every part of tattoo is created by certain rules. Eg.


Marquesan croos


Maori tattoos history and meaning

Symbol of a balance between the particular elements and harmony.

Turtle Shells


Symbol of longevity, fertility and peace.

[hfojvt]

15. yet you seem to be saying

that she looks inadequate, or has acted foolishly (which would make her intellectually or morally inadequate).

[MrScorpio]

19. I'm actually saying neither...

And this is not just about this particular woman, but about an ideal image. An image that is promoted by commercial interests that implies that a person's particular natural look is somehow inadequate, and the only solution for this is to go under the knife or the needle.

The surgically altered image, which gets exposure in the media; reality TV shows, movies, fashion icons, wealthy people in general, is then set up as an example of what people should strive to look like.

What happens next is you have people in general finding themselves in the hands of people who have Botox parties in living rooms and getting surgical procedures to "enhance" perfectly functional body parts.

It would be something else entirely if healthy lifestyle things like exercise, good nutrition and an avoidance of UV rays are promoted instead of what we're seeing in those pictures.

But who's going to make money from stuff like that, right?

[hfojvt]

20. "you end up with people looking like this"

Maybe I am missing what surgeries she has obviously had, other than some lip work.

I am not disagreeing with your post here. I find all these piercings and tatoos these days to be disgusting.

But then again, I am a grumpy old man.

But to some degree your complaint is not just that this woman was surgically altered, but also that the results of that surgical alteration moved her further away from the ideal. She looks ridiculous.

And that, is somewhat ironic. No?

[cbrer]

18. Bee Sting?

Wouldn't it have been more accurate to say "some Americans"? I have been priviledged to meet some damn fine people along the way.

Shame to have them slandered due to being grouped with Republicans...