On its April 7 debut, more people watched FOX's "The Swan" -- in which so-called "ugly ducklings" are surgically transformed into "swans" -- than "The Bachelor" and "The West Wing." The success of plastic surgery-centric shows like "The Swan," ABC's "Extreme Makeover," and MTV's "I Want A Famous Face" is in keeping with the national increase in surgical procedures: according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 8.7 million cosmetic plastic surgeries were performed in 2003 -- a 32 percent increase from 2002.
The amount of college-age individuals undergoing plastic surgery is on the increase as well: people aged 19 to 34 made up 26 percent of 2003's cosmetic surgeries. According to Julie Dobrow, program director of the Communications and Media Studies program, the increased media attention to plastic surgery may have an impact on these numbers.
"In general, when something is on TV, it tends to legitimize [the subject] for many viewers," Dobrow said. "It seems logical to assume that the spate of programs on now that show plastic surgery, often in rather graphic ways ... may serve to lessen any stigma associated."
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons feels similarly. Their website states, "This past year's growth may be attributed to the attention plastic surgery received from the entertainment industry, which spotlighted plastic surgery and perhaps, created a larger interest from the public."
Dr. Kenneth Rose of the Manhattan-based Advanced Cosmetic Surgery office agreed. "These shows do lessen the stigma attached to plastic surgery -- they tell people its ok, that it's not taboo anymore," he said. "But they can also put forth some unrealistic expectations. There is one group of college-aged patients that get plastic surgery for all the wrong reasons. They think surgery will make them more popular, and it doesn't work like that."
Even though these shows bring the issue of plastic surgery into popular media and are said to decrease the societal taboo, they may actually have the opposite effect on students.
"College students tend not to watch a lot of TV and tend to be a fairly skeptical segment of the viewers," Dobrow said. "My guess here is that these shows would be interpreted more along the lines of, 'Isn't it amazing what people will go through for their 15 minutes of fame?' or 'Hard to believe what networks are doing to get their share of the market.'"
"I think it's a bad message to send," sophomore Danielle Emery said. "'If you aren't happy with how you look, come on TV, we'll make you beautiful.' They're just exploiting people's bad self images to make a buck."
"It used to be, 'Get makeup and you'll be pretty,'" sophomore Melissa Marver said. "Then, it was, 'Go on a diet.' Now, you have to have surgery to make you look like a supermodel or a movie star before you can be happy with your appearance. I find it all repulsive."
Marver's opinion that these shows negatively affect people's self-esteem is supported by the research of senior and sociology major Julia Karol, who is doing her thesis on reality television. "From my research, I can say that there is a very clear physical ideal, and that this ideal contrasts [with] images of unacceptable physical looks," Karol said. "For some programs, the ideal is presented as normal so that anything less than the ideal is abnormal or freakish."
Two Tufts students who have had plastic surgery say they have done so only to have something removed, or for minor corrective surgery. "I have been to a plastic surgeon," sophomore Nilanjona Mitra said. "But that was only because I'm allergic to piercing and get keloids [thick scar tissue], so I just got them removed because I wanted to get my ears pierced again."
"All my life, I had had a bad habit of biting the inside of my upper lip whenever I was nervous," an anonymous student said. "After a while, a cyst-like thing developed, and once it became clearly noticeable, I had just plastic surgery to slice it off."
Not all students, however, feel negatively about plastic surgery. Freshman Gabriela Rocha Oliveira has not seen the latest onslaught of plastic surgery reality TV, but she has a favorable opinion of the practice as her father is a plastic surgeon in Brazil.
"I'm from Brazil and plastic surgery is really popular [there]... it's normal," Rocha Oliveira said. "It's like going to the hairdresser."
Rocha Oliveira disagrees with plastic surgery's negative connotations. "I think if you have a problem with yourself and you're not happy with or satisfied with it and there's a way to change, I think it's a positive thing," she said.
Tufts is not the only school whose have negative impressions of television shows like "The Swan." "I think [these programs are] ruining people's self-confidence," Columbia University sophomore Lisa Heffner said. "People won't be happy with their own looks and bodies because they are being taught that there's something better out there that's attainable through surgery."
"I think [these shows] are disgusting," Ohio Wesleyan sophomore Loren Davis agreed. "I don't need to see these things on television."
Many students wouldn't want to undergo them, either. "Personally I would not get plastic surgery, because I feel it's more important to accept myself and all my flaws rather than to try and change them by very expensive and most likely painful surgery," sophomore Rhiannon Deierhoi said.
