More Men Tending to Their Imperfections
Until now, cosmetic surgery has been associated with women, but new studies show that more men, even young boys, are going under the knife to nip and tuck their physical imperfections.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the majority of men seeking breast-reduction surgery are adolescent boys between the ages of 13-19. In 2006 alone, more than 14,000 boys underwent the operation in hopes of molding their bodies into what they “should” look like, toned and masculine.
For years, fingers have been pointed at teen magazines like Seventeen and YM for the constant increase in eating disorders amongst teenage girls due to the fashion spreads with mini Kate Moss’s gracing the pages. However, research now shows that boys too may be just as affected by the media’s portrayal of what the ideal male and female are too look like, and they’re now, with the help of their parents, taking action to look their physical best when hitting the beaches.
In a society that admires men with chiseled abs and the structured jaw line of Brad Pitt, it’s no wonder why men are choosing to have operations in order to alter their appearances. Women have been undergoing operations to mimic those we see in movies, magazines, and simply to keep up with one another for decades, so it only makes sense that men are following the same trend.
In a recent editorial in Men’s Health Magazine the editor-in-chief discussed the growing desire in his readers to have enlarged breasts like they see in most male models. As with women, men seem to be just as, if not more self-conscious when it comes to taking off their shirt in public.
Since the beginning of time men have been viewed as the providers and protectors, seen as the physically stronger and more capable sex. Now, for those men who don’t fit into this somewhat unrealistic Roman god stereotype, there are endless possibilities from calf implants and ab reconstruction to breast augmentation available to males. They seem to be taking notice, and scheduling consultations.
Technorati Tags: male breast augmentation, men’s health, ab reconstruction
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July 11th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I’m sort of new to the whole blog thing (I love reading them, but I rarely post). I’m not new to plastic surgery, though, having worked for a while now with a plastic surgeon in Naples. Yes, more and more men it seems are looking at themselves and then looking to plastic surgery to improve upon what they see. When I was growing up, men were slimmer (if I can trust my memory… not guaranteed), but one only heard about the mythical “six-pack” abs. Today, they’re everywhere. Men wear as little as their female counterparts in music videos and in movies. Also, there are a lot of men’s magazines today, whereas just a decade ago, there were very few. The term metrosexual was coined and became a household word. So, it seems that men see what they can look like (and what women respond to) and then going out to consult with people (surgeons) who can help them achieve that look. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons states that something like 1.1 million procedures were performed on men in 2006. I recently read that Hugh Hefner is considering a facelift; he’s 81. So, in short (too late) I agree, men are taking notice.