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Comment by ad404b8a372f2b9 | Hacker News Reader

That's incredibly sad, the comparison to boob and nose jobs is apt. It's a symptom of a sick society when people are so insecure about their bodies they feel they have to undergo unnecessary surgery to fit in.

My cousin had this procedure done almost 30 years ago, but she was pathologically small, at a height which makes it hard to function.

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As someone who got a nose job, I’ve heard this line too many times to count. It seems that people want to believe the only reason I would remove the hump on my nose is because of society’s beauty standards. I’m not allowed to simply not like it. Why this same logic doesn’t apply to hair dye or clothing, I’ll never know.

Y’know what’s funny too? I’ve never once met someone who both admired big noses and chose to increase the size of their own. I guess that’s society for you…

Indeed, the basic promise of our social order is individual autonomy and self ownership. Body modification is an exercise is self ownership.

Obvioulsy it is, unless someone else ties you up and forces the surgery on you.

What most commenters talk about here is a nuance in why person decides to have a surgery, though.

I'm simply pointing out that criticizing someone for electing to have cosmetic surgery is at odds with social values we (at least in the US) profess in other scenarios.

This is a sensitive topic so don't expect people to comment with anecdotes about people who do want to enhance their nose. That being said, it is popular enough to warrant some businesses [1]. We are also talking about a medical surgery that might not be sufficient for people's needs. Much easier to remove material than add it to the body.

[1] - https://www.floridacosmeticsurgerycenter.com/services/plasti...

I suppose it's a spectrum of risk and motivation. On one side low risk modifications motivated by vanity such as hair dyes, on the other getting your legs sawn off because you think you're not good enough to find a woman.

Perhaps some nose jobs end up closer to the hair dyes and teeth straightening end of the spectrum, but I can't help but see a clear distinction when you start cutting flesh and breaking bone.

,,people are so insecure about their bodies’’

While I agree that it’s probably not worth it for the operation, multiple studies have shown that heigh is an important factor in mate selection (and I believe there’s a consensus on it), so using the word insecurity, which refers to a mental problem, diverts thinking of alternative solutions (like better fitness) to a bad direction.

Sure it affects it, but you don't need to be tall or even fit (within reason) to find a mate. There is no need for alternative solutions because the problem has been misstated from the beginning.

AFAIK the boob and nose job comparison is a bit off because those are pretty harmless and safe compared to this incredibly dangerous process.

"Safe" is a pretty relative term; there are no shortage of complications that can arise from any of these surgeries (though the risk profiles are different, there are definitely still risks of permanent injury).

At the end of the day, these are elective surgeries too frequently used as an attempt to mask a pathological low self esteem.

Yes it's a relative term, but it's a comparison; it's being used as a relative metric.

That's why they said "compared to this".

Implants have to be replaced eventually, right? So the danger is having a surgery every X years.

You should see the potential stats on the mortality of Brazilian Butt Lift surgery. Probably a better comparison. It's fscking tragic.

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