Effortless Perfection

New Kid recently mentioned the Chronicle's article on undergraduate women who feel they must embody "Effortless Perfection".

I was reminded of the article while reading a campus publication on student health. Apparently, "student health" has much broader connotations that it did a decade, or even five years, ago. Yes, publication had the predictable pieces on the importance of a balanced diet and adequate sleep. But it also recommended tanning beds as a winter-time strategy for ensuring the body's Vitamin D requirements. (Recent studies have shown that complete avoidance of the sun can lead to a Vitamin D deficiency, yes. But that doesn't change the fact that tanning beds invite skin cancer!)

Most disturbing, the publication included a blithely uncritical feature on cosmetic surgery. Thesis: cosmetic surgery may be a vital tool for improving self-esteem. The article focused exclusively on the experiences of four college-age women, who, collectively, had had a breast reduction surgery, a breast augmentation surgery, a nose job, and a massive liposuction. All four of the women professed unqualified delight at the the post-op results.

The scariest sentence in the article (quoted here exactly as it appeared) came from the woman who spent over $10,000 on her liposuction; "It was five days [of] bleeding and oozing, but after it was all done, it was definitely worth the pain for beauty."