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| Should the state pay to make ugly people beautiful? |
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Mat Fraser, comedian, writer, musician and presenter responds:
‘To me, this is a ridiculous concept, as Mother Nature never intended all to be uniform, quite the opposite, and for our modern controlling post Judao Christian Uber State of culture and society values to so obviously fly in the face of real creation, not the religious/capitalist/corporate perversion of global control, is a very sad reflection of quite how far we have been removed from natural reality. As someone who's body is a reflection of this standard, on one level perhaps a living embodiment of the profit driven motivation of all drug companies (and all businesses), I feel at odds with the modern cultural body politic, and the mind prison we have all been incarcerated within to actually believe we can "look better" with plastic tits, or have to "correct" any part of a body that may not be uniform. For accident victims who wish to return to their former appearance, and any others who's bodily incompleteness they way wish to change, this can be a different issue of course, but my point is that I find it repulsive that Society, in which I include the medical profession, spends time on so called perfection, as a facade to cover what is mere avarice.’
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Debate started 29/04/2004 |
REPLIES POSTED: 42 |
 BACKGROUND: Appearance marks us as individuals - but also as members of groups, nations and races. It shapes how we view ourselves and how we imagine other see us.
The desire to take control of appearance has triggered developments in science and technology from colourful clothing to plastic surgery. The collections of NMSI contain such ingenious attempts to shape appearance as the first breast implant (1967), synthetic mauve dye which became a 19th century fashion ‘must have’, and prosthetic limbs. The photographic collections reaching back to the 19th century reflect the seriousness with which appearance has been projected.
The issue is not just about making a socialite more beautiful. Physical deformities resulting from disease, accident or conflict have also left many people feeling at odds with their appearance. Considerable effort has been put into developing technologies, which attempt to create a ‘normal’ appearance. Such medical interventions have been traditionally funded by the state in the cause of mental as well as of physical health. |
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Name / Country
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Comment
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| Ingenious |
Posted 29/04/2004 12:05 |
| Should the state pay to make ugly people beautiful? |
What do you think? |
| David |
Posted 16/04/2004 11:09 |
| Finland |
I very much agree with Mat. Further more when we consider that there are millions of starving people in the world, not to mention hundreds of thousands maimed as a result of wars, to be concerned with ones own looks is just another facade of self egotism that the West is so bent on advertising and promoting. |
| rb |
Posted 16/04/2004 11:12 |
| uk |
I do not believe that people's bodies should be fiddled with for fun |
| Tymon |
Posted 27/05/2004 20:47 |
| United Kingdom |
A difficult question to answer. My first reaction is to disagree totally with the concept of altering one's appearance but then, perhaps I'm lucky- not ugly, not handsome-just another person you pass in the street and immediately forget. Perhaps the real problem is that we live in a society where most people no longer want to be average and run of the mill. Television and the media in general have led us to seek what is an impossible goal- we all want to be above average, be it in terms of appearance,wealth,posessions - known and admired by all. And yet there must be some case to be made for the state and society in general to alleviate the undoubted problems of people at the other end of the scale who suffer mental agonies because of some disfigurement or physical characteristics that give them an appearance that is totally out of the ordinary.I am making a deliberate effort to avoid the word ugly,since I believe it is a difficult word to define and the absolute boundary between beauty and ugliness in a person is impossible lay down. |
| KG |
Posted 11/06/2004 11:45 |
| United Kingdom |
Maybe the money spent on 'making ugly people beautiful' would be better spent on counteracting all of the messages we get bombarded with which, directly or indirectly, promote the 'perfect' body. Yes - there are people who have very real difficulty with the way they look - sometimes causing them deep anxiety and depression. But where does this pressure to look 'more normal / perfect' come from? If only someone could discover a way to transplant the 'appreciation of the beautiful diversity of human beings' brain cell - now that would be a better way to spend money than 'plastic tits'. |