Sunday, May 17, 2009

Voice of Adolescents- Khoobsurat Hamesha

By Samiya Anwar

“It is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly”.

Little brats, boys and girls are more conscious about how they look, how they appear. Looking good is what matters to most children, today. Studies, career and hobbies takes a back seat. The growing teenagers are more concerned about their appearance. If gals want to look pretty like Bollywood beauties, the boys ape to Hollywood stars. Everyone is after one thing-beauty. That is the reason the parlors are more famous than play grounds. Books are competing with the sale of cosmetics. And beauticians are in higher demand.

To look beautiful is everyone’s dreams. It is trendy. It is stylish to look like a model. When youngsters see the killing looks of Katrina Kaif, the full lips of gorgeous Angelina Julie or the hot looks of Tom Cruise, they envy. We all want to see ourselves pretty. Right in front of the mirror, the gals spend hours in grooming, appreciating or disliking the looks. It is necessary to look beautiful in our eyes and also in eyes of others (parents, peers and knower). Isn’t so? Yes truly.

Rationally, the number of ads the growing children see daily affects their psychology The beauty creams Fair & Lovely, Shainaaz Hussian’s Fairever, and long existing Vicco, everything is tested. And the soaps, Lux- Film Star’s ka Saundarya saabun (soap), Margo, Breeze, Santoor for young looking, and the new Vivel. Also the young boys try a hand on Set Wet, Fair & Handsome, etc. not to forget the shampoos Sunsilk, Pantene, and famous Head & Shoulders are the only few names the youngsters today try and give a look, as what product, what soap or what shampoo will make them look as pretty as, as handsome as any other peer in group. No more it is only clothes young minds crave and buy for, it is the looks now. Mind it; TV is ruining the little minds. Anything to look stunning and gorgeous.

That's not just paranoia, by the way - ironically, the adolescents who want to change the size of their stomachs, breasts, or other body parts because they see it done so easily on TV feels uncomfortable the way they look. With the development of technology, teenagers are going for cosmetic and surgical operations.

Like Sandhya, 15 year old teenager had a liposuction without the knowledge of parents because of peer pressure. She was an object of tease for her black and uneven lips. With the help of a friend she acquired a lip job done in an astonishing manner. But not a surprise to the parent, what to do they ask in a reverse manner. They say, “Sandhya is a grown girl now, she knows what is good and bad”. These are the parents of 21st century, unbiased and liberal.

It is not anonymous for parents or others that the teenagers dye hair, pierce lips, nose, navel and other body parts, tattooing is something common to hear. They don’t take it guilt. They are not ashamed. After reconstruction of face and body, they feel easy. A 17years Puja says, “When I looked in the mirror, I feel ashamed, now when I see I look beautiful “who had done face lifting this summer. While Abhinav, 15 years had a chin re built when his cousins pester him of wrong chin.

It's well known that teens will be unhappy with the way they look. It's the age of being self-conscious and feeling peer pressure to look a certain way. We all must have seen a teen in the family who may wish to get rid of a birthmark, a crooked nose or ears that stick out or once we were teenagers we had also such thinking patterns. But the question is, is the excessive experimentation of these teens with cosmetic good? Moreover going for plastic surgeries is a constructive decision for them. Does the skin and body parts are ready for the type of testing the adolescents try over.

A big question, right! But many adolescents go for plastic surgeries and cosmetic surgeries. It is not an easy task, very strenuous. It involves money and labor in addition to care and pain. According to some girls, there is tremendous pressure from boys who increasingly expect their girlfriends to resemble the perfect celebrity body model they've been fed by a looks-obsessed society. The endless parade of thin yet curvy, surgically-enhanced celebrities have made young girls obsessed with their own normal lumpy, bumpy bodies.

The cosmetic procedures these days are performed on patients 18 years of age or younger and almost 24,000 are surgical procedures such as nose reshaping, breast lifts, breast augmentation, liposuction, and tummy tucks. Four in ten teenagers have considered plastic surgery as an option to look like the celebrities.

Sometimes, the parent is the one who is unhappy with how the teen looks. The mole, or scar on face makes them uneasy to look at child. The parent may even drive the child's decision to have surgery. Few mothers constantly complain of girls being over-weight. In a shocking incident one of my cousins had undergone plastic surgery by her mother as a “birthday gift”. Parents are cool, they belong to present day and kids financially sound with pocket money and the freedom to live life own way.

It is necessary that parents should teach teens to accept themselves and make positive lifestyle changes which may be a better option than surgery. Like eating right and exercising a bit, for example engage in swimming class, cycling, etc. Parents, TV, magazines and peer pressure results in encouraging youngsters for surgical operations and developing poor self-images.

Yet, Plastic surgery is not a better option just to look beautiful. In case of accidents and burns it is a boon. But for teenager, they need to understand that it carries a risk of complications, side effects, such as scarring, and the risk of disappointment with the results. All these things need to be taken very carefully into account. The teenage body is in growing stage and it involves potential risks. The plastic and cosmetic surgeries are better not to be performed to those who are 18 or younger though it is a personal choice and voice of youngsters to be Khoobsurat Hamesha.

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