Booby Trapped
by Erika-Janea
If you ever ask me how I feel about any cosmetic procedure, especially breast augmentation, you're likely to hear me go off on an angry tangent regarding the absurdity of women making (semi) permanent alterations to their temples, and how we should be rebelling against the intangible cookie-cutter standards society has created concerning the female form. I'd probably tell you that bodies are not equivalences, but that they are exquisite, each in their separate entities. Ask me if I'd ever get breast implants? Hell no! Unless a pickup truck dances across my chest and severs both of my breasts at once. But if you inquire about my insecurities, you're less likely to receive a "Shelia Jeffreys"1response.
I find it easy to rant about how overly obsessive we have become in regards to body image in our quest for confidence. The real battle lies within assessing why, and figuring out how to end this neuroticism.
More and more young women are developing negative relationships with their breasts. So much that the rate of breast augmentation has drastically increased in recent years. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), in 2006, there were nearly 11 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures performed in the U.S. alone. 329,000 of those procedures were that of breast augmentations-the leading surgical procedure performed on women. Liposuction came in second among women with a whopping 302,000 procedures performed.
Though the ASPS does not disclose the ages of these women, Dr. Lawrence Korpeck, a Boca Raton plastic surgeon, assures that "the absolute number of teenagers getting breast augmentation has probably increased 15 to 20 percent in the last several years." The ASPS reports that in 2007, out of the 11,795,065 cosmetic procedures performed, 347,524 were breast augmentations. The rate of these procedures increased by 6% from 2006 to 2007 alone. In 2006, U.S. FDA raised the 14-year ban on silicon implants, but only for women over the age of 22. Saline implants (which are considered safer than silicone implants, according to the FDA) are not recommended for women under the age of 18, except for 'bona fide medical reasons.' The ambiguity in the FDA's verdict continues to cause chaos. The question then becomes: what is a sensible reason?
In a survey taken by the young women of GirlSpeak, myself included, 80% report to have-at some point-felt insecure about their breasts. 70% of the ladies attest to having desired larger breasts. On the contrary, only a mere 10% report to have desired smaller breasts. Ironically enough, 90% of these ladies identify as feminists. Since legend has it that 'feminists don't have self-esteem problems,' the outcome of the survey may seem preposterous. However, as a young woman who identifies as a feminist, I can attest to experiencing feelings of inadequacy. There are countless times when I take an extra hour or so to get dressed, trying to find an outfit that 'complements' my cup size. I often end up frustrated and back to the outfit I picked out initially! Body dissatisfaction among young women has become ample reason to engage in cosmetic surgical procedures. I find that the uncertainty we as young women battle with is deeply rooted in our cultural backgrounds, the media's distortions, scrutiny from the opposite sex, and sometimes each other as well.
"In the media we are portrayed as very voluptuous," says one of the editors of GirlSpeak, [who identifies as African American.] "Because of that, the media along with other races look at you differently if you don't have curves, and so do other black people." Most women on popular music television shows/networks such as MTV and BET showcase voluptuous What's worse is that some of these networks are owned and/or managed by women, sending us the message that not only should we be insecure about our bosoms, but that some women in high places advocate such images. At this point, I am unsure of which is worse: scrutiny from a male or another woman!
Not every man will verbally articulate his disapproval of a young woman's bust size, but their opinions are surely expressed in body language, and eyeballing (or lack of eyeballing). In the same survey of GirlSpeakers, five out of the ten young women claim to have been victimized by the opposite sex due to their cup size. Now, although I feel that men aid in the disharmony between ladies and their breasts, they are in no way solely responsible. Because we concern ourselves with the opinions of the opposite sex (and others in general for that matter), our perception of ourselves is distorted. We begin to assert our femininity based on our body parts alone.It is small minded to limit ourselves to such a definition of femininity.
The excessive reticence young women inflict on themselves can (and often does) develop into extreme measures such as breasts augmentation. Nevertheless, more subtle actions exist as well. Wearing bras for extra "umph" or for "minimization" are just as common. I can definitely say that I've done my share of sports bra wearing outside of track practice, just to limit stares and embarrassing comments of how my 105 pound frame happens to carry quite a bit of luggage. 100% of the young women who participated in the survey say they wear bras regularly, yet only 40% find them comfortable. A little over three fifths of the girls went as far as calling bras "restricting."
Meanwhile, Germaine Greer and fellow members of goingbraless.net denounce bras, calling them a "ludicrous invention." Their mission is to make women more confident with their bodies and teach them that going braless is empowering, healthy, and elegant. Kate Hudson is posted on the homepage of the site, smiling, with her nipples protruding through the thin fabric of a white tee. (She happens to be one of their many spokespersons.) But bearing bosoms is not an easy task for all ladies. 70% of the GirlSpeak ladies have never gone braless in public, and 60% of them bear witness to having the desire to, but didn't in fear of self ridicule and/or criticism from others.
The fact that we, as young women, who hold what is in all dominance of the future and where it's headed, allow all of these outside factors dictate how we feel and what we do to/with our breasts is quite bothersome. Partially, because we are the problem and the solution. So we're stuck between boobs and a hard place. I remember once pinning the sides and the back of a strapless bra in order to wear it with a cocktail dress. When I tried the dress on with no bra, it looked tasteful, but I feared others wouldn't see it that way. So I wore the bra, which even after pinning, still didn't fit right. My boobs were suffocating the entire night, and were sore by the time I got home and went to bed. I swore to never submit my breasts to such torture ever again. And I haven't.
I am not against timidity; every girl has that day where she wakes up and feels that one boob is massive compared to the other, or that her areolas are too big, or too small, or her nipples are too "happy." It's natural. The task is not to completely obliterate such thoughts...that's damn near impossible. But we mustn't allow these things to overtake us, and submit our will and our bodies to situations that can be detrimental to our emotional and physical health.
For more statistical information on cosmetic surgery procedures, log on to www.surgery.org/press/news-release.
1 Radical lesbian feminist scholar and political activist, known for her outspoken analysis of the history and politics of sexuality in Britain.