Plastic Surgery Repackaged As Cosmetic Surgery Is Now Called “The Body Enhancement Industry”
Ask the collective
Cosmetic Surgery Expected to Soar
“By 2015, 17 percent of the residents of the United States will be getting cosmetic procedures, the body enhancement industry predicts… “
The thing is, when looking like a Stepford Wife goes out of style the way perming your hair did in the 80′s, you can’t get your face back.
How do you see this astrologically? I used to think it was the Pluto in Leo generation – They are not too keen on aging. But then the Pluto in Virgo generation comes up and what do they want? Perfection maybe? Pluto In Libra? Well those folks are not going to want to look unsightly…
::sighs::
We may be seeing surgified people for awhile.
Perhaps the Pluto in Scorpio folk will be the ones to take the exit ramp here. Why? Well I doubt they’ll take kindly to being manipulated which is what it is when an industry tells you that what you were born with is flawed.
Your opinion?
59 Responses to “Plastic Surgery Repackaged As Cosmetic Surgery Is Now Called “The Body Enhancement Industry””
My vanity says I could do with a nick and tuck here and there. But No! I’m too scared to voluntarily go under the knife. Too worried about anaesthetic, infection and all that healing time required under bandages…I haven’t got the time or the money! Uranus conjunct Pluto in Virgo?
Lets look to women who haven’t done surgery…Helen Miren maybe
I’ve wondered before: what in Jocelyn Wildenstein’s chart made her want to do that to her face?
I shouldn’t judge — I have a couple tattoos. I have no desire for any plastic surgery though. Aging is fine with me — I even like my new gray hairs, too.
Maybe the Pluto Virgo people will be more concerned with real health as opposed to superficial perfection.
Well, Lupa it is the Pluto in Virgo generation doing the work with genetics for the most part so you’re right. And I thought like you did some years ago but now I see my generation getting surgery much sooner than the one prior… it’s like they are efficient or something. Teacher’s pets!
Lupa – same here. I don’t like the homogenized look. I see the actresses of my era, all the great beauties and these days you can’t even tell who is who.
I agree with all of the stated opinions about plastic surgery…I don’t like it, and it actually makes me very sad. I worked very hard at accepting myself and the way that I came into this world in physical form, so I empathize, I deeply emphasize with people who are uncomfortable with their bodies.
However, I don’t think that surgery will fix a person’s self esteem. That takes growth on a deeper level.
And, I am also a hypocrite (wouldn’t be the first time), but I finally paid to have my teeth fixed and it completely changed my life. I didn’t just have screwy teeth, I had really messed up top teeth. Some of my teeth were baby teeth, having never fallen out, with no adult teeth to back up…some had no roots and just cracked…huge gaps, sharp edges. Man, it was the best money I ever spent. I enjoy smiling and laughing like never before: that ease of joy is priceless.
Then people say: teeth are different (well, in my case I also had my bite modified, which helped me greatly reduce my jaw-clenching).
I think that body-enhancement is very much here to stay. I think it is part of the very real evolution of our society. I don’t agree with it, but I personally I am more worried about a lack of psychological support for people who embark upon it. I worry about poor qualified people performing it.
I agree with the above comments of embracing diversity…however I’m more worried about the disconnect people have between their bodies and their minds than the actual push to/from a certain aesthetic.
People in our society are not only disconnected this way, but other ways as well, such as food production.
And one last thing: the fact that people get the parts of their body that are supposed to shed and are DEAD enhanced and falsely extended CREEPS ME OUT.
I am severely disturbed by fake hair and nails. I feel like I’m looking at dead body parts on people. (Sorry if this offends anyone; I’m quite loathe to criticize other people’s aesthetic preference, but I can’t help it 
)
Some plastic surgery is very life enhancing. After dramatic weight loss for example, you might need extra skin or tissue removed. This helped me a lot.
But that’s different than looking like a stretched canvas.
‘Plastic Surgery Repackaged As Cosmetic Surgery Is Now Called “The Body Enhancement Industry”’
George Carlin would’ve had a field day with that one.
While I’m no fan of the stepford look, I have to say I’ve seen some wonderful, kind, life-changing things done with cosmetic surgery.
And it’s likely that the wealthy stepford wives of the world are helping to pay for the babies who have growths removed from their faces.
I’m all for freedom of choice on this one. I’d be willing to bet good money that the majority of people who get cosmetic work done get it done once, for some physical trait that’s bothered them their entire lives. Wax-faced women are in the minority. They just get all the press. (Naturally. If it’s quality surgery, you shouldn’t be able to tell anyway.)
I speak as someone who gets all weepy whenever they do daytime television shows where they fix former meth addicts’ teeth for free. 
Oh, I loved George Carlin. That’s my kind of humor. Moon in Cap
I am part of the Pluto in Leo generation, and when I was approaching middle age, even actresses did not do it, or if they did, they lied about it. i kind of like the fact that they no longer try to hide it.
I love and like myself exactly as I am, so I’d never think on doing me such a harm. And I like other people as they are too, so I would always discourage them to have plastic surgery done. The modified faces and bodies scary me deeply, no matter how “pretty” they are. When you knew the person before, you can still hear the same old soul behind the new facade. The new face is often the expression of a failed internal change – the one of self-acceptance. Exceptions are necessary surgeries like broken noses, harelips, etc.
Pluto in Virgo here. But that whole “something is wrong with you, but we can fix it” vibe turns me right off. Maybe because the rest of my chart is heavily Cardinal, and I hate to be bossed? My dentist keeps trying to talk me into having my teeth straightened and whitened, but until he comes up with a medical (not cosmetic) reason I’ll keep shrugging him off.
Coming back to say that I am wholeheartedly supportive of people who have a medical need for some sort of plastic surgery and I would never impose my opinion of the more aesthetic forms of “body enhancement” on anyone else’s right to make a decision. I just would be very unlikely to take extreme measures to avoid the appearance of aging or say get a big old set of tits for myself.
Ahh. I’m Pluto in Libra and I just want my teeth fixed (Saturn square sun and others, opposite asc). The only other things I would want done is to fix my chin and maybe boobs. It sucks going through life with nice hips and ass and no boobs to balance them out. But that’s a pipe dream. But the teeth (crooked and distracting) and chin (disappears sometimes, not due to fat, but genetics) would make me so much more confident, I lack confidence severely even though others say they don’t see it.
But the whole nose job, lips, etc. to look “perfect” is kind of odd. Liposuction, etc. It’s temporary fix and I would be too scared of the after effects. You put on weight in weird places and just look out of sorts. I’m majorly sag and have the hips and thighs to prove it, but also have Pisces rising so everyone sees something totally different, even me most days.
I’m Pluto in Virgo and make my living in front of the camera, and I can tell you I’ve resisted ridiculous amounts of pressure to nip, tuck, and slough away. And some of the pressure comes from deep inside me, too! My resistance has to do with a yearning for authenticity.. yeah, my appearance matters to me. But what I’m saying and feeling matters more, and so far, that’s won out.
P.S. When I was 7, I got my very wrinkly-faced grandmother some cheap “anti-wrinkle cream” for Christmas, and there were dirty looks all around when she unwrapped that sucker. I’ve always remembered that.
I would like to get a breast lift, because my breast used to be legendary! haha.. (Leo sun, Scorp ASC)
Now they are just as pair of deflated balloons
Other than that, I am fine with my stretch marked, skin grafted, 3rd degree burn on arm-self. I actually like my scars.
I am extremely turned off by the thought of botox and all of those other face altering things.
I’m sure Pricilla Presley would have been even more gorgeous if she had not done so much to her face.
My Pluto is in Libra
I actually like other people’s imperfections, but can’t suffer some of my own. It’s like if all it takes is just a leetle something to nudge me from imperfect to perfect, I know myself and I’d totally go for it. Not change, just sort of “finishing” or final touches. And yet, I have the personality (and virgo asc.) that means that these changes really and truly are satisfying to me. So while for some people it might be empty, for me it really is a positive thing.
Duh, wait–had a breast reduction that slipped my mind. Ok, that was a major major change and every day I am so happy I did it. Went from the figure of a granny to pure cute girl. I felt like “me”, finally. It was technically medical, but who are we kidding–I just cared about how they made me look. I’m happy to report I have practically invisible scars, I’m very pale and you have to look for them. They are actually really pretty!
And cute titties are indispensible for us mermaids, right Elsa? (wink, wink)
Saggal: I finally went to my SO’s dentist and he fixed my teeth for $1400, straight up. I got 6 veneers–not porcelain, because he was concerned I would be disturbed by the radical change to myself, with myself, and once you go there, you can’t go back.
So I had a brace that moved my teeth into place for about 8 months (I was in my SR, so it was perfect time to move them) and then got, uh, plastic (?) veneers. I took out a loan. One day I’ll get porcelain veneers, but as it is these babies have another 8 or so years so I guess I’ll start saving.
(PS. He wouldn’t let me go too white either–he’s against the uber-bleached look).
Being pluto in scorpio myself, I think you may be bang-on. I don’t take kindly to ppl telling me I’m not good enough the way I am.
personally I’m really glad I never got the nose job I wanted when I was young. I never would have had the opportunity to embrace what I was given and like myself that much more. this would keep me from trying surgery to change anything else I didn’t like about myself. maybe someday I’d come to love what I now dislike!
satori–ditto. I hated my big nose when I was younger and i now i SUPER LOVE IT! I feel very much part of my family with this nose…pity they keep growing your entire life, tho!
I’m Pisces, so I’m always looking for ways to create heaven on earth.
While riding our mountain bikes through some countryside, my hubby and I found an old apple tree. We picked a couple of apples and then sat under the tree and observed them. Then we ate them.
These apples weren’t waxed, nor were they perfectly round, but my soul was absolutely rocked by their natural beauty. I was so moved at how luscious (and delicious) these apples were that I felt it at a cellular level.
I suppose that heaven on earth might be when we can all feel blissful at a cellular level about our own and each other’s *natural* beauty. We could remember that each of us is a little miracle. Then, we might just stop pursuing superficial happiness based on material perfection and start addressing the things that really matter.
Three years of ugly metal braces, rubber bands, PAIN everytime they tightened them, painful mouth surgery before they even put them on [so that they would have a chance of working]….it wasn’t really my choice at the time, but THANK GOD for my mother’s decision to make me have them. The teeth were freakishly crooked and I already have enough problems in other areas, and I’m very grateful that I did not have to go through this life with those teeth.
I have mixed feelings about all the other stuff. I don’t like telling people what to do or not do.
‘Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth’
I will just drink more water, watch what I eat, take care of myself. Sleep is very important!
2nd/Taurus/Venus & 2nd/Taurus/Sun here…
Cappy Moon sextile my Sun…
I hate admitting it, but I look as good as I can at all times.
I’m too lazy to personally care about my appearance, but I’ve connected the dots: better-looking people, on average, have better lives.
Society sucks, huh?
And now for that nose job…
That said… there is a point at which it becomes self-indulgent…
I had braces when I was a kid and glad I do, and I will probably get them for my kids. However, the nips and tucks to fend off aging is not my thing. I didn’t recognize Dixie Carter..and I love her talent. I’m working hard on preserving what I have, but through adjusting my diet and exercise. I can’t imagine being perfect, but I would like to feel better in my skin.
I don’t know if people will necessarily get this kind of surgery to look *better*. That is what it has been used for, so far. But look at today’s kids with all their piercings and tattoos. They’re the Pluto in Scorpio generation, and I can totally see them going the next step, using plastic surgery for shock value. I think, if and when this kind of surgery becomes affordable and safe, this will pretty much be a given.
I haven’t read all the responses, so apologies if I am rehashing. It’s a fascinating idea here.
Pluto in Virgo is obsessed by perfection for sure, but the nature of Virgo dictates too that it should be achieved by natural and healthy means. I think this is why this particular generation will be more likely to become health-freaks rather than cosmetic surgery freaks.
I would also say that here in the UK I notice a distinct gap across generations; my parents generation (pl/Le) are into their plastic surgery and the younger lot too (pl/li), the virgo crowd don’t seem to be so enthralled.
Ever see those face lifts that stretched the person’s lips across their face in a really weird way (Mary Tyler Moore..) or that made the eyes tilt UPWARDS in a very other worldly fashion?? (most movie stars..)
“Enhanced???” elsa’s right– after the fact, you can’t get your face back!!!!
I’ll stick with enhancement “light”–stuff like coloring my hair and yes I am attached ot my gel nails–sorry.
Everyone’s gotta choose for themselves, but I tend to agree with the thought that it is the baby boomers “turn.” We are all going to get older. Yes, we will all evetually LOOK LIKE OLD PEOPLE,too.
I sure hope when I am 66 and 76 and 86 (goddess willing) that it’s not my ass, or my sagging jowls, but my SMILE and my WISDOM you will be paying attention to–
I agree–i believe the Pluto/Virgo crowd will be the juicers, the marathoners, the vegetarians, the health fanatics and we’ll see a return of the old fashioned Kellog Sanitariums (ever see the movie BACK TO WELLVILLE..??)
a good thing!
Warning; violent story. There was I woman I grew up knowing to be “the most beautiful woman in town”. She was glamorous and charming. Slowly, she started on the plastic surgery track and at the age of 55, when she was unrecognizable from her former self, she committed suicide by shooting herself in the face. I would just say, people need to be ABSOLUTELY certain they are doing it for the right reason. Also have a relative who at the age of 36 got her first facelift. I wanted to shake her and say WHY???? She has a constant wide eyed look that is unnerving.
Mary R, what a sad story! Do you have that woman’s chart? It strikes me that it has Mars and Aries all over it.
Elsa, do you have any percentages on what portion of your readers have Pluto in Cancer, verses Leo versus Virgo versus Libra, versus Sag?
Sad sad story, poor troubled lady. Do you happen to have a birthdate for the suicide?
Thanks Elsa!
Madeleine–I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable. It’s all about grooming, I think: in the truest sense of the word. All animals groom.
I have a friend who is repulsed by me shaving my armpits. She’s told me more than once she thinks my underarms look like dead fish and she can’t handle it.
(Yes I have odd friends, lol)
I will see if I can find her birthdate.
Thanks, Mary, don’t go to a lot of trouble, but I’d really like to have it as it fits right in with some research I am doing on suicide. Also, with so many strong links to the face, and also the Mars like energy of all the surgerys then shooting, that chart, I would think, would tell quite a story with the Mars and the Aries.
I read somewhere that aries and gemini are the most ‘youthful’ looking but is this true? Maybe this has more to do with what aspects you have to your ascendant? Do certain signs take longer to ‘age’?
Gemini def looks young, don’t agree as far as Aries goes. Cap ages very well and Virgo is often youthful but not as profound as Gemini. When you see mothers who look like sisters of their daughters – that’s Gemini, hands down
I love how Caps get better with age. They don’t necessarily appear younger than they are, just damn good whatever the age once they grow into it.
I’ve always said that if you’re going to lie about your age you should say you’re older than you are. That way people will say wow, she looks good for ___. Instead of damn she’s looking a little rough for __(ten years younger than reality)___.
Elsa, are you sure about Aries? Maybe it’s all my stuff in Gemini, but most people say I look about 26-28, when I’m really 36. And my dad looked very youthful for many years & he was a Virgo w/Aries rising…we always attributed it to having Aries 
Wyrdling – I once dated a guy who criticized my teeth, the way I walk, the curl of my hair, in an effort to make me ‘better’. Got rid of him asap.
Attempting to control someone else’s appearance is a bit like censureship, no? It’s oppression! My body is a canvas and I get to do whatever I like with it. It reflects who I am, and I don’t want to be a version of someone else. It takes away from my sense of uniqueness. Blechh!
Gemini Rising, Venus in Aries trine Uranus
Lol – I was an “old looking” kid, and with each year I find it is others who look old now. Nature sure has a sense of humor
Have no knowledge of Aries looking young. Er… not saying I am right but I’ve heard that before or noticed it – I can pick out Cap and Gemini with no problem though.
And Ana, I was a 15 year old bartender and no ever questioned me. Now I am aging well (my opinion) – we ought to get some compensation for our trouble (Cap) because we sure as hell have enough of it!
Plastic surgery, genetic engineering, etc. really freaks me out. It goes too far. It looks ugly. It’s like taking a logical premise as far as it can go. It stems from adjustments like losing weight, fixing your teeth, wearing different clothing, dying your hair, which can be empowering. Stars with plastic surgery already look like wax works. But people argue that all kinds of changes are imminent. Our inventions seem to inevitably expand.
Pluto in Scorpio
Wow. People get excited about this subject…
I love beauty, and I don’t think that there is anything wrong with wanting to be beautiful.
If you are against body modification, where do you draw the line? Getting a nose job is vain, but resurfacing burnt flesh is ok? Liposuction is bad, going to the gym is good?
When Dustin Hoffman dressed as a woman for a role, he wanted people visiting the set to believe he was really female- but this experience upset him a lot. Straight men visiting would just erase him and turn to Jessica Lange. That’s all I really think is driving those people who have too much surgery- they just don’t want to be erased.
haha…I agree Elsa.
Toni – I love Dustin Hoffman’s look, and that incredible nose.
“If you are against body modification, where do you draw the line?”
Exactly, Toni. But then there’s the other question, If you are modifying your body, where do you draw the line?
Toni,
yes, people really do get amazingly caught up in this topic (mostly against) as evidenced by the fact that it is still getting hits.
That is why I ended up asking the ‘where is your Pluto’ on this thread…the environment in this thread and a few others….it is feeling more like Pluto in Virgo over Pluto in Leo.
My belief on the Pluto in Leo genration is that one of our mottos easily could be: LIVE AND LET LIVE. We have our faults (Pluto in Leo, of course), but that is not what I am talking about right now. I am talking abuot this tendency to sit around and criticize people for the appearence choices they are making, which sounds sooooo Virgo to me.
Do we hate drag queens too? Are we against anyone doing something to change their appearence? …I think drag queen shows are a lot of fun, and I empower them to do what they want how they want when and wherever, I don’t care to judge people for what THEY choose to do with their own bodies.
What about balding men who use products to make their hair grow back? Is that “bad”? I have seen a few that look stupid, but if the guy is walking around feeling like king of the world with these, then who are we to say?
I would ask the people who are so against cosmetic surgery done purely for appearence, (and hypothetically assuming that you could do so) Just how far would you go to try to regulate the cosmetic industry so that procedures were done only for health and not appearance? =shivers=
I really think most of the botches cosmetics are people like cher and michael jackson who just basically even play off of that. They want to. They felt like doing it, so, whatever! None of my business.
I don’t understand why people have cosmetic surgery.
It is expensive, painful, and narcissistic.
Surely it’s better for your well being, and your finances to love yourself as you are?
From what I have read and seen on TV, it seems that many people who go under the surgeons knife are disappointed with the end result: http://plasticsergeant.com
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i had a dream where some guy would only date me if i got my teeth fixed. it was freakishly offensive.
i like my flaws, for goodness sake. they mean i’m real. just like age gives good furniture character.
and i have my pluto in libra. so i don’t know. i haven’t been under the knife for anything yet and i don’t really want to if i can avoid it. surgery is so hugely invasive. and permanent. (albeit sometimes necessary.)