ΜΜΕ και πλαστική χειρουργική: ο κόσμος πίσω από την ομορφιά.
Mass media and plastic surgery: the world behind beauty.
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Μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης -- Επίδραση ; Χειρουργική, Πλαστική ; Αισθητική προσώπου και σώματος ; Ψυχολογία ; Surgery, Plastic ; AdvertisingAbstract
There is a variety of words in the Greek language describing a beautiful person, someone who makes a difference from the average population. The term which described beauty in ancient Greek was “kallos”, while in Modern Greek the equivalent term for a person is “oraios”. The etymology of the adjective “oraios” comes from the noun “ora”, which means “time”, resulting to the conclusion that someone who is on their time, is automatically beautiful. A mellow fruit, a fruit on its time, is considered to be beautiful, likewise a person who does not try to be younger or order than their age is also considered to be beautiful. Advertising is the foundation and the financial heart of the mass media. The fundamental role of the mass media is to give an audience to advertisers, just like television’s main target is to deliver a target audience of the advertisements. The target audience of the advertisers is 18-34, because there is a belief that the sooner the audience gets familiar to a brand name the deeper it gets to their subconscious. Advertising is over a 100 billion industry annually and influences everyone’s life. Each one of us is exposed to over 2000 advertisements per day, making the advertisement the most powerful medium of influence in the society. But advertisements sell more than just products. They sell values, images, what is worth, love, sex, and popularity, what is normal and successful. We are told who we are and who we should be. They even sell addictions. Plastic surgery is a medical specialty that is linked to correction, restoration and function of the human body. Even though the term cosmetic surgery is the best known kind of plastic surgery, plastic surgery is not only about cosmetics. Plastic surgery includes microsurgery, reconstructive surgery and burn restoration. Microsurgery is about replacing tissue, that is missing for plenty of reasons, by taking tissue from another part of the body and placing it to the damaged area settling the normal blood flow of the area. Reconstructive surgery is about correcting function problems caused by burns, injuries, disease, tumors, cancer, birth problems. Reconstructive surgery is about restoring the function firstly and secondly the appearance. On the contrary, plastic surgery is optional, choice of the patient, is applied to healthy body parts with only purpose the improvement of one’s appearance. Even though mass media and advertising play a huge part and influence everyone’s life, the researchers believe that obsession with plastic surgery has a root in the person’s psychology. Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) has a big percentage of responsibility of the motive given to the people who pursue plastic surgery constantly. In the US 2% of the population suffers from this disorder and 15% of the people visiting plastic surgeons and dermatologists has been diagnosed with this disorder. Half of the patients with BBD are never satisfied with the aesthetic result of each plastic surgery. Patients with BBD by visiting the office of a plastic surgeon not only don’t they solve the problem but they even make it worse, in some cases to such a scale that they see as their only escape suicide.