Bridalplasty

"'Bridalplasty' brings together engaged women who are seeking complete image transformations before their big day -- they want the dream wedding AND the dream body to go along with it."

"Bridalplasty" will be the first American reality show to have participants compete for plastic surgery. There have been shows about people having plastic surgery, but in "Bridalplasty," it's the prize -- pushing the limits of medical ethics.

Under the American Society of Plastic Surgeons code of ethics, "We're technically prohibited from giving procedures away as a prize for a contest. It totally undermines the doctor-patient relationship," says Dr. Gayle Gordillo, associate professor plastic surgery at Ohio State University. "The ethical and social implications of this [show] are frightening."
~ABC News

Frightening? Understatement of the century. Not only do these women (who are of course all gorgeous to begin with) want plastic surgery (usually liposuction and/or breast augmentation), their fiance won't get to see their bride's new look until they wed them at the altar. I admit, I watched the series premiere. I had to, in order to justify my stance that this show defines the media's stance on women.

Here are just a few of my gripes about this show, and topic:

(1) the whole premise - fairly self explanatory why it's abhorrent. Women competing for boob jobs to impress their future husbands? seriously? first of all, boob jobs can inhibit your ability to breast feed. so that future family you may desire? your kids will lose the benefit of breast milk. nipples can lose some of their sensation, so that boob job is literally only for your husband. and if you're planning to marry someone who doesnt think you're beautiful as you are, you might want to reconsider the whole marriage plan.

I sometimes watch shows like I Shouldnt Be Alive, or I Survived, and I saw an episode once about a woman who was attacked by a mountain lion. Her face was mutilated, and although reconstructive surgery certainly helped, the scars of course remained. Her husband stayed at her bedside throughout the surgeries and when it was all over, and the bandages were removed, and she was provided a mirror, she started sobbing. Her husband gently brushed her face, and said "You are so beautiful". That's the kind of man I want to marry.

(2) What kind of fiance would allow their wife to go on such a show? Allow is a strong word, because it might insinuate that a woman needs her mans permission, but I'm talking about without a fight. If my boyfriend wanted to leave me for however many months so he could compete for a head to toe plastic surgery makeover, and not come back to show his face until i put a ring on his finger, I'd tell him he was out of his mind, and if he wants to leave, he can just not come back. Isn't love enough anymore?

One woman on the show is engaged to a military man (I don't remember what branch), and he had been overseas for months when she left for the show. He returned to the states while she was filming, and production flew him out so they can reunite for a night. They talked about how much they missed each other, and all that, and then he left, and she stayed. In the confessional she said how she had waited for him, and she knew he would wait for her.

I'm not sure if waiting for your husband to return from serving our country overseas at war is quite comparable to waiting for your wife to make a fool of herself in order to get a boob job on national television....Go home and be with the person you love. Just the way they are.

(3) When the women first appeared at the house in which they would live during the competition, they met with the plastic surgeon to discuss what they wanted to change. These interviews were then replayed for the whole house, so every girl could see what everyone else wanted done. When meeting with the surgeon, the women invariably asked for some sort of liposuction, usually on their stomach. The MD then went on to show them where ELSE they could take some fat off, and all the other work they would probably want done. Apparently the low self esteem that prompted the appearance on the show wasn't low enough for the doctor. You want a skinnier stomach? Honey, have you seen your legs? We're gonna have to suck some fat off those too! It's absolutely appalling to see a grown professional man prey on a woman's insecurities the way this doctor does. And as noted in the opening quote, this is not at all how a patient-doctor relationship should be. He should have his license revoked for appearing on the show.

The fact that these interviews are played for everyone on the show furthers the insanity of the show. Skinny woman after skinny woman who said they wanted smaller stomachs (and were told they needed smaller arms, legs, backs, etc), forced the others on the show to show the same incredulous face in their personal confessionals. eg, "Nancy"'s so skinny! If she wants liposuction, how fat must she think I am?! And thus, every woman, despite their beauty is left feeling worse than when any of this began.

Every part of this show not only preys on the contestants' insecurities, but furthers them. This is not a mindless reality show about people doing ridiculous things for cash prizes. This is a show that almost makes fun of body dysmorphic disorder (a type of chronic mental illness in which you can't stop thinking about a flaw with your appearance — a flaw that is either minor or imagined. MayoClinic) in that it pretends that plastic surgery will help self esteem. In reality, all the surgery in the world won't help these women to love themselves.

Someone once told me they wanted a breast augmentation. As they were, she was at least a cup size larger than me. I asked her what she was trying to say about me if you thought her boobs were too small. She, of course, tried saying it was just about making herself happy, and that she just wasn't comfortable with how small hers were, but mine were fine. When I see girls skinnier than me crying that they're too fat, or their breasts are too small, am I supposed to just write it off? Luckily I'm comfortable enough with myself (though God knows it took a hell of a long ride to get here) to brush off such insecurities, but many people are not.

With shows like Bridalplasty, the media is not only preying on the contestants, but on all Americans. When gorgous women fight to change their looks because they believe themselves to be too ugly, the rest of America wonders where that leaves us.

I watched one episode of this show just to have enough material to rightfully hate it. If this is where American gameshows are headed, then call me old fashioned. I'll take Let's Make a Deal any day of the week.

You don't need plastic surgery to be beautiful, or feel beautiful, or to have the perfect wedding, or to be the perfect bride. Healthy and happy is far more appealing than a plastic mask on an uncomfortable body.