going under the knife...

... or how you can save the population of Ethiopia by not changing your physical appearance. FACTS: There were nearly 11.9 million surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures performed in 2004, according to the most comprehensive survey to date of U.S. physicians and surgeons by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). From 2003-2004, there was a 44 percent increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures. The top five surgical cosmetic procedures in 2004 were: liposuction (478,251, up 24 percent from 2003); breast augmentation (334,052, up 19 percent); eyelid surgery (290,343, up 8 percent); rhinoplasty (166,187, down 4 percent); and facelift (157,061, up 25 percent). People age 35-50 had the most procedures — 5.3 million and 45 percent of the total. People age 65-and-over had 6 percent; (the older the wiser, ha?) Hispanics, 8.5 percent; African-Americans, 6.2 percent; Asians, 4.6 percent; and other non-Caucasians, 1.1 percent. CONCLUSION: Americans spent just under $12.5 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2004. NOW THE NEW TREND: Being a virgin again! "Revirgination" can be had for as little as $1,800 at New York's Ridgewood Health and Beauty Center owned by Cuban-born Esmeralda Vanegas. Vanegas promotes hymenoplasties. "Losing your virginity is like losing a member of your family," Vanegas told the newspaper. "We can make it seem like nothing ever happened." Has this lady ever lost anyone? She’s comparing the death of a loved one with a night of sex!!!!! HONEY, if you go through this ridiculous procedure you care way too much about what other’s think. How does having your hymen sewn back help your self esteem? Who are you kidding? If you dress with one of those skirts (that look more like a big belt), don’t bother closing back your intimate part; if you look like a slut, and act like one, it doesn’t matter that you want to lie to your partner, pretending to be a virgin, deep inside, you and all the guys you’ve been with know, you are not one. To me this procedure is more immoral than anything else. In a recent article, Sally Winthorp, said: "Unfortunately, many of the people who opt for cosmetic surgery are actually trying to heal a deeper hurt than any surgeon's knife will ever reach. In a survey, 85% of respondents stated that appearance affected self-esteem, but what these adolescents don’t seem to realize is that smaller waists or a wrinkle-free brow will not make a person value themselves. Confidence and self-esteem can only be built on a strong foundation of self-value and belief in your own abilities, not on the shaky, and inevitably fleeting, platform of beauty." She said it all in that paragraph. Now, if you really want to feel better about yourself, there is a great way to achieve this, and it makes others feel great too!! Check out http://www.amnesty.org/campaign/ and see what traumas are affecting the world, the causes and campaigns you can help. If you have the money -and you do if you want to invest in your body- give it away to a good cause and feel the change in your system. After all, your perfectly shaped body and purchased breasts will one day grow old and expire. If you help your community children by teaching them valuable knowledge, you may be saving a life, feeding someone with nurture. But if instead you chose to go under the knife, you’ll be scarring yourself, to be someone that you’re not, to change the way God made you. What I can say right now is, if you can’t live with the pain, fix it, but having 32B cups is not painful for your body, maybe for your empty ego. Learn to love those cups. Learn to accept. One Love