How and Why Are Influencers Romanticizing Plastic Surgeries?

Instagram is the most loved social network, by young people, and, according to a survey by Opinion Box, 67% of them access the app multiple times a day. The study also revealed that 40% of social network users felt influenced by the opinion of famous people. Therefore, discussing the comparison with life on the screens is fundamental so that we can understand not only how this affects us but also the fine line between doing something by spontaneous will or spontaneous pressure.

Since the end of 2019, the wave of plastic surgery advertisements has taken over social media. Influencers started to publish esthetical procedures on a regular basis — some of them including contests to win and engage more followers. Besides the problem involving celebrities making surgeries an unnecessary object of desire, much has been discussed about the methods of promotion adopted. 

One of the most controversial cases is MC Mirella’s, which caused backlash when sharing a giveaway that included a plastic surgery, some shapewears and postoperative massages. The followers, most of them young people, were completely against her decision, commented things like: “Do you know how sick this is?” or “What these people have in their heads?“. But what about those who didn’t criticize?

In addition to plastic surgeries requiring a medical opinion and a personalized analysis, it is important to reflect on how unsafe social media is and how easily false profiles can be bypassed, for example. If the winner was a minor, the influencer (as well as her team) wouldn’t even notice nor would explain about the changes that will still happen in your body or the risks that a surgery — when done so young — can bring in the future.

It is also essential that the public understands where the willingness of those influencers comes from. In most cases, exchanges are made with brands. In those cases, advertisements are made in exchange for discounts or free procedures in the esthetic clinic. That is why I wonder: would you like to be operated by doctors who put themselves in the position of offering for free an extremely invasive surgery on Instagram?

Romanticizing this kind of practice is problematic and makes people increasingly want to look like the filters of the internet. The latest survey, made by the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP), points out that Brazil leads the ranking when it comes to plastic surgeries made in young people — aged between 13 and 18 years — and that many patients ask for natural results that make them “look better” in photos, fitting into beauty patterns.

The comparison with influencers is also responsible for deteriorating mental health. It is essential to value the individual body and its peculiarities and realize that those who influence sell an edited and unreal image of their bodies. They, who often live on this, are not exactly as they are shown. So why should you want to be any different?

———————————————————————–

This article was edited by Amanda Oestreich.

Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Casper Libero home page for more!

• beauty standards
• Influencers
• instagram
• mental health
• opinion
• plastic surgery