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Chapter 1: How are cosmetic procedures changing societal beauty standards?
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If you've been on social media at all recently, you might have noticed something unsettling.
We used to be able to differentiate people's ages a little bit more easily, and now it's quite homogenous.
From big-name celebrities to your friends from high school, people are looking increasingly ageless. They're smoother, they're a bit more plump, more perfect. You might have also heard the term Instagram face coined in 2019 to describe the homogenous beauty standards populating our online feeds.
Obviously, we've got access to filters and photo editing, but there is something else on the rise too, and that's cosmetic procedures.
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Chapter 2: What psychological impacts do cosmetic procedures have on individuals?
Yeah, it's a thing. And I suppose if we think of our evolutionary roots, attractiveness came along with health and ability to reproduce. So we are hardwired to look for attractiveness.
And it does kind of make you go, this is the world we live in and it's rooted in our evolution. Like, it's kind of fair enough that people would go, well, this is what I got to do.
Exactly right. And I think, you know, and that's why the cosmetic industry is worth an absolute fortune. And even during times like the pandemic, it was an industry that was not hit. In fact, it actually flourished. So it shows that people will invest in this even in really difficult times.
Part of Gemma's clinical work is seeing patients before they go ahead with a cosmetic procedure.
So these are patients who are considering cosmetic procedures, but their surgeons, their cosmetic practitioners feel they may benefit from extra consultation with a clinical psychologist, mostly to discuss their motivations and their expected outcomes.
Through this work, she comes across a lot of different reasons why someone is seeking a particular treatment.
I will say that no two people's stories are the same. And I suppose one particular instance really sticks out to me because it was a male patient and they are a bit less frequent. And he was interested in a penile augmentation. And this was a non-surgical penile augmentation. So basically increasing the girth through filler.
He was referred to Gemma because he had recently gone through a breakup. And he was quite convinced that the reason for the breakdown was his penis size. And he thought that that would really... solve his relationship issues.
It was really clear with speaking with him that he had a sort of understanding that the cosmetic procedure really wasn't going to solve these relationship issues and that other pathways needed to be taken. And I was, I suppose I'm always remembering that one because it was just so clear that something else was going on and that the cosmetic procedure probably wouldn't have benefited him that much.
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Chapter 3: How prevalent are cosmetic procedures in Australia?
How does all this content make you feel?
Yeah, it definitely makes me feel like, can I be 50 and wrinkle-free? Because lots of these women who are actresses and models seem to be. It's a bit ridiculous, but it has made me newly obsessed with skincare, I'll say. Definitely with the retinol and the vitamin C serums and all that kind of stuff.
Exactly. And it's not that far of a step to then picture someone going, I'll get the cosmetic procedure as well. I wanted to put this question to Professor Gemma Sharp. So I asked her if she thinks the popularity of cosmetic procedures has changed the way we think about ageing at a broader scale, at more of a societal level.
So I think... When we look at the cosmetic surgery and cosmetic intervention statistics for the last, I suppose, 10, 20 years, there's this group, usually 35 to 50 year olds, who are the biggest consumers. And some would say that that is potentially when signs of aging start to kick in. And you'll hear people saying, well, I don't want to be discriminated against because of my age.
I need to be able to keep up a job. I want to have access to certain relationships. And so you'll think, well, why wouldn't they go and seek cosmetic procedures in order to not look 35 to 50? I think what we have seen a bit more recently, though, is that younger people come in saying, well, I don't want to age at all. I want to remain looking 18. I want to prevent aging as much as I can.
So we're seeing this shift in a younger demographic seeking some of the same procedures that were usually only seen in 35 to 50-year-olds.
And so what it does seem to be doing is that we have this sort of, I suppose, 18 to 50 all getting the same procedures and all looking of a similar age, which is an incredibly weird time in society because we used to be able to differentiate people's ages a little bit more easily and now it's quite homogenous.
I think I would best describe it as ageing is now... almost seen as a medical condition in the sense that it's no longer, I guess, appropriate to look old.
Here's Dr Sarah Burnell again.
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