February 15, 2011
Chasing shifting body ideals: Homework still a must
By Stacey Burling, Inquirer Staff Writer
Blame it on Jennifer Lopez.
She and other entertainers with bodacious backsides – Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, and Kim Kardashian among them – have helped make many women feel insecure about yet another part of their bodies: their butts.
Once a piece of real estate that almost no woman would want to enlarge, the ideal butt for some now must be round as a balloon, perky, and well-defined. That’s hard to achieve naturally when you’re also striving for the anorexic look or fighting the sags and realignment that age and gravity inevitably bring.
Hence a new demand for butt-enhancing medical procedures – a desire that had tragic consequences last week when an English medical tourist died after black-market butt injections she received in a hotel room near Philadelphia International Airport.
There are legitimate ways to plump up a bottom, but this isn’t one of them. Doctors said there have always been cut-rate cosmetic procedures, and publicity about plastic surgery is lulling more women into thinking it’s no big deal. As last week’s case proved, you’re better off with a pro. A big clue: Board-certified plastic surgeons don’t work in hotel rooms.
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