From the editor-in-chief
It is perfectly rational for all individuals to want to look good. The motivation may differ. The desire to look good is often driven by the need to be attractive to others. Sometimes, it is about raising or cementing one’s own self-esteem or self-confidence. Of course, appearances are in most part nature’s lottery. For centuries, women and men have used the aid of cosmetics or accessories—jewellery in particular—to enhance their appearances. Over the last 50 years, with rapid advances in technology and medical practices, an increasing number has also opted to go under the knife.
The popular demand for cosmetic or plastic surgery is no longer a Western phenomenon. Liberalised and globalised India has caught up. The newest obsession is breast enhancement. A rise in disposable incomes has meant that the Rs 1.5 lakh-rs 2.5 lakh price tag is no longer unaffordable. It is convenient too. The procedure can be conducted in the morning and the patient can go home in the evening. Unsurprisingly, it is no longer just a celebrity acquisition. If there is one person who deserves credit for taking it to the masses, it is Rakhi Sawant, who in 2007 went public with her breast enhancement story. Said the bold Sawant, “Jo cheezein God nahi deta, wo doctor deta hai (What God doesn’t give, the doctor gives). The earthy Sawant, only a minor celebrity at the time, was a realistic aspirational role model for the middle class. Five years later, as breast enhancement surgeries gain popularity among the middle class, it is Sawant’s pictures that young women carry, most often, to their plastic surgeon.
It may surprise some to know that it isn’t just women who are getting their breasts altered. Men, between the ages of 17 and 38, are also opting for surgery to remove ‘man boobs’ caused by bad diets, sedentary lifestyle and haywire hormones. What seems to be common to both men and women undergoing the procedure is that they are not at all diffident about it. Whereas in the past, patients would hide their identities or masquerade as someone else, the new generation is very open, signalling that such cosmetic surgeries are increasingly mainstream, not taboo.
Our cover story, written by Deputy Editor Damayanti Datta, explores this new trend of cosmetic breast surgery which has caught the imagination of the middle class. The story finds all manner of ordinary people opting for breast surgery—a mother of two in her 40s who wants to look good after the rigours of child bearing, a girl in her 20s waiting to find a suitable match in marriage, a girl in her teens who wants to raise her self-esteem. There is a dark side to all of this. Doctors are at pains to explain to some of their prospective patients that some celebrity breasts are unnatural and that there is absolutely no need to ape them. There are concerns about safety. In January this year, the proprietor of a French firm which manufactured breast implants was arrested on charges of manslaughter when it was found that the implants were leaking silicone and causing cancer in women. It isn’t clear if enough women are aware of the risks. They need only listen to Timmie Jean Lindsey of Texas, US, who, 50 years ago, was the recipient of the world’s first breast implant and who now describes the pain and suffering she has had to endure. Surely, medical science has advanced since then, but those who wish to play God on their bodies do so at their own peril.