In society, we believe beauty will make you happy, but our happiness is dependent on how symmetrical your face is. It condemns it when you make efforts to fit those harsh standards through plastic surgery – if you have a few wrinkles on your face, you’re suddenly undesirable, but if you do a procedure to get smoother skin, you’re fake.

I’m all about natural beauty and accepting the way your body naturally is, but I also believe if someone gets plastic surgery, we shouldn’t judge them. Personally, I believe surgery should be for benefitting your health, but it doesn’t mean my opinion is for everyone. I think there are so many risks with plastic surgery and I believe a person should be educated before you should commit to something so permanent that can go wrong. Kanye West’s mother died in 2007 from post-surgical complications.

Society tells us to be beautiful, that our imperfections make us perfect, but at the same time, society is showing us photoshopped models who appear perfect. We are shown beautiful people in nice cars, having nice lives, we’re taught that beauty is tied into a rich, full life. Your appearances shouldn’t dictate your happiness, but we’re taught all our lives that it does.

People who do get plastic surgery are ostracized – a woman is often told that men don’t like plastic surgery, but at the same they are getting their flaws pointed at. Celebrities like Renee Zellweger who get plastic surgery suddenly go from being well respected to the butt of the joke. A person’s worth shouldn’t be based off whether they’re a natural beauty or not, it should be based off of how they are as a personality. Renee Zellweger has supported numerous charities, but we don’t hear that in the news. All we hear is about her plastic surgery and reasons we think she got work done, because we all know that personal decisions are more important than doing work that actually helps people.

“It’s their choice, they should be able to do what they want,” said Davidson Domond, a junior.”But if you do it over and over again, maybe there’s something wrong with you [and not your appearance].”

No matter what we do, we’re going to get judged, so do whatever makes you happy.