Plastic surgery Gold Coast: Barbaric reality behind chase for perfection
Wannabe Gold Coast beauty queens are spending about $10,000 every year to maintain their Instagram doll look – and that is just on their face. SEE OUR INTERACTIVE CHART
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WANNABE Gold Coast beauty queens are spending about $10,000 every year to maintain their Instagram doll look – and that is just on their face.
Throw in another $11,000 for butt lifts, up to $12,000 for breast implants and at least $3500 on liposuction.
A Bulletin investigation into the cosmetic and beauty industries has found the number of extreme body-shaping treatments such as the Brazilian butt lift had grown 256 per cent in the past two decades.
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Surgeons, medical experts and those women who have sought treatment say plastic surgery and injectables have become such a craze that “a lot of people don’t know what natural or real is anymore”.
Women say the work is making them fit better into society, particularly the social media clique where Instagram influencers attract hundreds of thousands of followers and clones who want to look just like them.
However, psychologists say the physical transformations are having a detrimental effect emotionally for thousands of young women.
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A UK study published last year – Effects of social media use on desire for cosmetic surgery among young women – revealed that viewing images of females who had undergone cosmetic enhancements affected young women’s desire for cosmetic surgery.
It also cited other research that suggested Instagram was harmful for young people’s mental health, and viewing pictures of attractive A-listers and colleagues on the social media platform had a negative effect on moods and body image.
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In the US, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons said the number of teenagers who underwent surgery doubled in eight years. In 2008 alone, it said 219,000 cosmetic operations were performed on those aged 13 to 19.
After dropping for nearly two decades, suicide rates for teens spiked in the five years to 2015. Many of them were blamed on cyber-bullying and social media posts depicting “perfect” lives.
About 10 million Australians used Instagram, and the cosmetic surgery industry was now worth $1 billion to the Australian economy, according to the Victorian Cosmetic Institute.
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Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) president Dr Naveen Somia told the Bulletin in November 2020 that the number of cosmetic clinics was “in proportion to the population”.
“The rise in popularity is due to many reasons, increased acceptance by society, increased advocacy by social media influencers (and) celebrities,” Dr Somia said.
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“We are not concerned about the acceptance of injections or plastic surgery. It is reality.”
Cosmos Clinic medical director Dr Mitchell Kim said 10 years ago he was doing two to three Brazilian butt lifts (BBL) a month and now he was doing 10 to 15 a month. He said 70 per cent of clients were women aged from their mid-20s to 50s.
“Younger girls want that bikini body … whereas the mum age groups, they have a little pouch after having kids and as you get older, weight loss becomes more difficult.”
The Benowa clinic had done 15,000 procedures in the past six years.
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“I’m nearly 40 and when I was growing up, especially in high school, female bodies were all super skinny,” Dr Kim said. “People wanted that supermodel look. But we’ve gone back to that most classical feminine beauty with the hourglass figure. The current trends are more healthier for women. They are embracing the thick look.”
Dr Kim said he did up to three procedures a day, five days a week. Some could take up to four-and-a-half hours.
However, psychologists said the work was a vicious cycle for some women.
“I deal with clients on a daily basis experiencing debilitating symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression,” Integrative Health Practitioner psychologist and hypnotherapist Michelle van Namen said.
“It is really cornering about the number of young women coming in who have very little self-confidence and are getting cosmetic surgery. Our society is riddled with promises of ‘quick fix’ solutions to all of our problems …the magic pill and shake, butt lifts and Botox.
“I am not saying to people don’t explore plastic surgery as an option, but please don’t see this as the answer to your confidence and self-esteem issues, because you will just keep finding other imperfections.”
Gold Coast Medical Association president Dr Philip Morris said the city’s climate was one reason for women feeling the needed to enhance their body.
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He said people were visiting clinics “for good reasons” for cancer removal and regular skin checks.
Dr Somia warned those planning to go under the knife of the hidden dangers.
“What we are really concerned about is the dark side of the industry where people who are not registered surgeons call themselves surgeons for marketing purposes. Clinics use illegally imported products and do not have adequate training in cosmetic procedures.
“Prioritise safety over everything else. Do your research about the practitioner, clinic or plastic surgeon.”
The Australian Health and Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) also warned those seeking enhancements to only use registered practitioners.
“All cosmetic procedures have risks,” a AHPRA spokesperson said.
“We are asking consumers to be ‘be safe first’ if they are considering having a cosmetic procedure and to check whether the person who is going to carry out the procedure is appropriately qualified.”
BULLETIN’S OPINION
IT feels like we’ve lost sight with what’s important in life.
We’ve grown up fronted with airbrushed celebrities and supermodels in glossy paged magazines to being ruled by near-nude bikini-wearing “influencers”.
We’re bombarded with billboards and roaming buses advertising tummy tucks and enhancement surgeries. Radio is spruiking breast implants on the hour. The latest diets are being plugged on television.
The pressure to be perfect is everywhere we look. It should come at no surprise when I say it’s rare to find someone my age — in their mid 20s — who hasn’t had some form of cosmetic enhancement. It’s the new norm.
The minority who cannot afford going under the knife have an alternative option.
Friends won’t share the photos they are in unless they’ve given themselves a quick nip and tuck on photo-editing mobile app Facetune. Gold Coast girls are not alone; it is used by more than one million people worldwide.
In seconds you can pull your tummy in to be hourglass shaped, arms tucked like twigs, thighs shrunk, teeth whitened, face blurred over to hide any sign of the real you.
We’re living in a society where looking attractive has become more important than being an authentic person.
We value people more on how they look than how they contribute to society.
We value ourselves less for being our unique, wonderful selves.
Our 20s are a prime part of our life so why are we wasting it feeling so insecure?
If this investigation changes the mind of one person seeking “perfection” through Botox, implants or liposuction — or sparks a new conversation — then it has been worth it.
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