Forget the weird cosmetic things happening in Florida (dentists performing breast augmentations, surgeons putting in used implants, etc.), now a Manhattan gynecologist is jumping on the cosmetic bandwagon. Apparently it’s not enough to do pap smears and deliver babies, the big bucks are in coming up with new cosmetic procedures to market to everyone with a pair.

The vagina appears to be the new frontier for cosmetic medicine.  There’s a whole array of proceduress that the good gyno has designed just for us.  Dr. Romanzi (in a New York Times interview with Natasha Singer) claims that she’s focusing on helping women with bladder issues post-babies, but what it really sounds like is she’s targeting women that will do anything to obtain and retain a man.  The main focus seems to be on strengthening Kegel muscles (like the fancy gyno exam to determine how strong you are), and making the area look pretty.  Am I missing something?

Not all gynecologists have felt the need to explore cosmetics. One doctor even seemed to have his head on straight: “Dr. Berenson questioned whether healthy women need any kind of pelvic strengthening or cosmetic procedure.”  Thank goodness that someone’s out there telling women to leave well enough alone.  Dr. Romanzi’s using face lasers to make the vulva look “better” and she claims that they’re just fine on that area even though there’s no research to support that. So there are a few reasons why other OB/GYN’s are cautious about Phit (Pelvic Health Integrated Techniques) www.theperfectphit.com.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m completely happy just leaving that area alone until some type of medical intervention is deemed necessary…oh, like CANCER, or I’m urinating when I sneeze (I’ve heard that happens, and I’m hoping to avoid)! I’m not even sure that I get “vaginal rejuvenation”. The whole idea of tightening things, makes me think that an inevitable rip, tear, or just plain pain, is in my future.

What about you?  Will you be working “pelvic fitness” into your schedule any time soon?

~Kacey

After a little persuasion from my husband and a few close family members, I finally decided to join Facebook last week.  Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

What I didn’t realize about Facebook before I signed up, was that it is much more then just putting up a profile, uploading pictures and getting back in touch with old friends.  Facebook includes hundreds if not thousands of “applications” that you actually “add” to your page. The applications are anything from adding “the quote of the day” to your page, to adding little “stickers,” various quizzes that you can take to test your knowledge on different subjects, to sending and receiving various “gifts” to and from your friends. The “gifts” include anything from flowers, to little hatching eggs, to drinks, to “karma.”

As I was learning the ins and outs of Facebook over the last two weeks, I was browsing the pages of my friends, and to my surprise and shock, one of my friends had received various “boobies” from her friends. I learned quickly that people are sending each other photos of different breasts and adding the photos straight to their page.  After my shock wore off a bit, I decided to take a closer look at this facebook “application.” In order to do this, I had to add the application to my page. So, I pressed the button to add the application, did my research, and quickly deleted the application before anyone noticed that I added it.  What I found through my five minutes of  research was that there were about 45 different types of “boobies” that you could send and receive. A few of the boobies included the following:

Motivational Boobies

Fake Boobies (though ALL of the boobies were fake, so I really didn’t get that one.)

Sporty Boobies

Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I found this particular application extremely annoying, to say the least. Who, but an immature teenager would think receiving and sending photos of fake breasts is interesting, cool, or “okay” for that matter? Aren’t we inundated with fake breasts ENOUGH? What is this teaching the millions of teenagers that are part of Facebook, that women’s bodies and breasts are just objects? Come on Facebook, you can do better.

I was listening to the radio this morning as I was getting ready for work and I was shocked to hear my favorite radio DJ’s talking about this story!! A man in Florida was arrested for holding “buttocks pumping parties” in various hotels around Florida. Anthony Solomon of Miami who is without any type of medical license was pumping women’s asses full of straight silicone!

Dr. Seth Thaller, chief of plastic surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said he often sees patients seeking relief for pain and infection and outright removal of silicone and other substances from such injections.

“Sometimes the silicone is industrial grade, from lubricants. Lord knows how much they put in or what they put in. It must be a good-sized needle.  Then it leaches. It spreads all over. It’s hard to get out.  In a few cases, such injections have spread through the bloodstream to the lungs, creating pulmonary embolisms and causing death. How can anybody let people without credentials inject something in them?” he said.

Okay ladies, you know these comments are coming next. What in the world are these women thinking?!!!  Is “beauty” and “vanity” THAT important that you would let a strange man, without a medical license inject “whatever” into your ass in a hotel room! I am just beside myself on this!

On top of that…..if the medical community is acknoweding that pumping the ass full of straight silicone poses a serious health risk, then why do they refuse to admit that breast implants do the same? Saline breast implants are encased in a silicone shell, we all know full well that saline implants rupture…I know mine did (after only 3 years!) Doesn’t that silicone from the shell go straight into the body just like if you were injecting it into the body?! Silicone implants are even worse! Plastic surgeons and implant manufacturers would have you believe that the silicone stays within the implant, but it is simply not true. The body attacks the silicone implant, chipping off small pieces of silicone that are then taken all over the body! Breast implants are man-made! We all know that nothing man-made is perfect, these devices have serious flaws.  The rupture rate is astronomical and platic surgeons don’t think that is a big deal! How can it not be a big deal when silicone is seriously harmful to the human body!?

Alright everyone, I’m hoping this post is going to strike up some interesting comments and opinions. This is something that I hear over and over again from the “pro-implant” and “pro-plastic surgery” people. They seem to think that if women are against breast implants and plastic surgery then that automatically makes them against using sunscreens, anti-aging lotions, hair dyes, braces, make-up and other “products” to help them look their best and assist them in keeping their youthful appearances.

I recently read this blog where it talks about how actress and mother, Cate Blanchett openly “poo poos” plastic surgery. Cate says that she doesn’t find it attractive when people get work done and that their motivation is “self obsession” and “fear.” She also said: “For me, I think what will be sexy in 50 years time will be wrinkles. Look at a man or a woman in their 50s and all I see when they have brushed their years away with surgery is self-obsession and fear. That’s not particularly attractive.”

What I found most interesting was that in this same blog, as well as this one and this one, people were actually condemning Cate for endorsing and being a spokesperson for a skincare line called, SK-II. Cate says she uses one of their products, a moisturizing skin mask made of cotton, every morning while she makes her sons’ breakfast. Many people seem to think that Cate is being a hypocrite for saying she is against plastic surgery, but then at the same time she is using an expensive anti-wrinkle cream on her face every day.

For the life of me I cannot figure out how the two things are connected. Plastic surgery is trying to be something you are not, completely changing a body part (or multiple body parts for some people.) Using a wrinkle cream is only putting in the effort to “look your best.” I don’t know about the rest of you, but just because I am not a big fan of breast implants and plastic surgery in general doesn’t automatically mean that I don’t try and look my best everyday. But, the biggest difference in those who go under the knife to look their best; is that I am using what I was born with to look my best, just putting my best foot forward everyday. Yes, I wear make-up, I put lotion with sunscreen on my face everyday, I use hair styling products and I exercise regularly. Does that make me a hypocrite? Should I walk out of the house everyday only wearing a paper bag, with my hair disheveled, zero make-up on, and never use sunscreen just because I am not a fan of plastic surgery? I’d love to hear what others have to say on this topic.

I remember that towards the end of high school, in the throws of a burgeoning sexual identity, I started shaving my pubic hair.  In retrospect, I think peer pressure and an adolescent phobia of sticking out ultimately led me to believe that less hair was the paradigm of pubic beauty.  And I didn’t just trim up around the edges of my garden;  no, every two days or so I made sure that not a pube could be found on my external vagina.  By process of elimination, I know that my mother had no influence on my hair removal rituals.  My opinion of my mother during high school was that she knew nothing about being sexy.  She also definitely did not shave her pubic hair (which crept out of her swimsuit during family vacations), providing all the more reason for me to eliminate mine.  In my limited exposure to erotica I determined that most porn stars shave their pubic hair or sport the “landing strip.” Still, having little interest in emulating porn stars, I doubt that my exposure to porn had a significant bearing on my decision.  It was definitely the girls at my (wealthy, private) high school, particularly the older girls, who influenced my pubic practices.  Remarks they made in the bathroom about what their boyfriends enjoyed, how much cleaner they felt, yet how painful waxing was, and “Oh nasty! Did you see Claire’s bush in gym today!” All these comments formed notions in my head about a socially accepted pubic appearance:  hairless or, at least, minimal hair.

So, obediently, I accepted the hair removal rituals of my high school peers, who were themselves trying to impress their boyfriends.  And then it happened that my first boyfriend shattered my world and my silly notion of pubic beauty.  Confident in the growing physical and emotional intimacy of our young relationship, he had the audacity to ask me “Why do you shave off your pubic hair?”  I remember that initially I felt completely exposed.  He was challenging me in an area where I had complete domain but virtually no understanding.  I mean, no one had ever told me that a hairless vagina was desirable except the older girls at my high school, and half the time I didn’t even care what they thought.  Why had I cared about this?  My vulnerability morphed into anger.  I thought, “What! I do this for you, all the razor burn and itchy re-growth, I do it because that’s the way you want it!”  My anger calmed and the emotional hurricane was over in a matter of micro-seconds.  What came out of my mouth was “Oh, I thought you would like it.”  What came out of his was “Oh.  You don’t have to.” 

Such was my first exposure to the social reality of some women (myself included).  We accept ideals of beauty that are themselves silly for arguably silly reasons:  men will like us and women won’t hate us.  Pubic hair removal is but my personal experience in a host of examples ranging from arm-pit hair elimination to breast augmentation to preposterously thin waistlines, where as a woman I felt pressured to conform to unrealistic physical ideals.  Ultimately, de gustibus non est disputandum, that is, in matters of taste, there is no dispute and if a woman thinks that it’s beautiful to have a hairless vagina, for example, shave away!  Certainly, women who subscribe to impossible standards of beauty - like the ridiculously skinny 5’5” woman at 115 lbs, or the Barbie-model with a 25” waist and double-D bust-line, or the 50-year-old actress who looks 30 - should not be criticized if their appearance reflects their personal beauty ideal.  That being said, all women must critically examine to whom their standards of beauty really belong.  At 22, the thing I most emphatically believe is that a woman’s actions must result from her will, not the influence of someone else, otherwise she will never be comfortable with who she is.  If you aren’t being thin for you, if you aren’t being hairless for you, like I wasn’t being hairless for me, it’s time to majorly overhaul your priorities.  Too many women spend their whole lives being who and what they believe their family, their friends, their lovers, their society want and need them to be.  How unfair!  Take back your life, women!  While it’s crude that I began to learn this lesson from a mindless hair removal practice, I am grateful to be learning it now.  In fact, the autonomous woman makes beauty decisions to fulfill her personal ideal of beauty, and no one else’s.  My ideal of beauty is an autonomous woman.

“I am a research engineer that works primarily with materials. PVC is used because it is the cheapest durable plastic, and its properties can be customized with additives. Not only is PVC harmful, the additives are harmful too (if not worse). For women and mothers everywhere, pay close attention to the use of PVC in anything that touches you or your child, especially when it comes to baby’s toys and sex toys. Visit wikipedia for a very thorough discussion on this plastic.”  ~Mr. Engineer

Mr. Engineer,  

Thank you for your comments. I thought your insightful post needed to be the focus of our next discussion.  I seemingly meet people with priviledged information all of the time. While vacationing one year, I met a researcher who had found a connection between hair dye and cancer. When their research was really starting to make strides, she said the FDA came in, collected everything, and said they’ll be taking over the study…and then she never heard anything more of it. She said that this was typical when researchers find something that could cause a lot of concern and the FDA gets wind of it. By the way, from what she said, it might be a good idea to avoid every color but brown.

Another time, a doctor of mine mentioned that during his residency, he was helping with a study on artificial sweeteners and their effect on rats. He said that every one of the rats got cancer during the study, and that they were instructed to surgically remove the cancer, and then the rats were considered “cancer-free”. Nevermind that they all got cancer from the sweeteners, with the cancer removed they could pretend it never happened. ***Did you know that in breast implant studies, often times the women that remove their implants (for whatever reason) are automatically dropped from from the study altogether?  Now I’m sure the public would be curious to know WHY they removed their implants (personal choice, health problems, capsular contracture, rupture, etc.).  That’s information that would be HELPFUL to a study, I would think.

These are just examples of a small amount of the information I’ve been exposed to by the professionals that have been involved with research. I wish we could all know what is really going on, from the people who see it happening every day. The best tool we have in this day and age is the Internet, as free-speech can truly prevail and companies are not able to stop our messages (or at least for the most part).

Thanks again for giving us a heads up. I encourage others to do the same, as we should all help each other to be as safe and healthy as possible. You’d think the FDA was looking out for us (they can barely keep up with produce by the way), but that’s just something we tell ourselves at night to help us sleep better.

Any other things we should look out for, readers?

~Kacey

We are all looking to believe that breast implants are free of health risks…or at least hoping anyways.  Well, I’ve run across an incredible discovery.  Now, every woman can get their very own set of saline or silicone-filled implants without the fear of the slightest side-effect thanks to Miss Bimbo! 

So ladies if you want breast implants that are completely safe, the only place to find them is ONLINE.  Log on, plump up, tan, marry for money, and be the best bimbo you can be…it’s what Quebec and Europe are doing. (Okay, ethics and mental health questions are sure to come my way, but you get the point.)

~Kacey

I think that today’s society, men, women, and the pressure to be perfect has the largest effect on women who choose to get breast implants. I am 23 years old, 5′7, 140 pounds and a B cup. Well, barely a B, but I am still a B. I am desperate to have my breasts done. I cry about it and obsess over it. I could care less whether or not it is safe, I am willing to take the risk and for what? For what other people think of me. I know it is ridiculous, I have a boyfriend who thinks I’m crazy, but I can’t help but think whenever a girl walks by with a large C cup and a small waist that he would much rather be with her at night then with me. I’m miserable. It does not stop at my breasts, it is my entire body. I am constantly picking myself apart, and some days I’m too depressed to get off the couch and get dressed. If it weren’t for that fact that I had to go to work, I wouldn’t get up at all sometimes.

Now, I know what this is from. I had an eating disorder, I was bulimic and anorexic in high school, in fact it started in 8th grade and I like to believe that I am over it, but I’m not. Recently I was complaining about my body when my boyfriend looked at me and made a comment very unlike him to make; He said “you know that is very unattractive, no self confidence”. Now, I know that men like self confidence, but honestly I did not even think he was listening half the time when I would rant and rave about my body. He then said “I think you’re sexy and there is nothing wrong with you”. However, from the years of looking at the unrealistic women in the magazines and internal dialog I’ve created with myself, I cannot believe him. I think that he is saying these things just to shut me up.

I’m writing all of this because I know that so many young women are affected by these things. I was very sexually promiscuous when I was younger for nothing more than the feeling that I was “good enough” whatever that is and I have done many horrible things to my mind, body, and soul all in the pursuit of being “pretty enough” or “sexy enough”.

The media, women, men, and what goes on within yourself all contribute to why women are willing to put their lives on the line for the “perfect” body. I’ve now begun to keep these thoughts and feelings inside as I do not want to turn my boyfriend off any more than I believe I already do and returning to destructive habits of throwing up certain foods that I think I do not need to eat. Common sense wise, I know that I am not fat, but for some reason when I look in the mirror or hear myself think that is all I tell myself. I pick myself apart constantly and part of my wanting breast augmentation is because (even though I know it is not true) I think maybe, just maybe, I will feel better about myself and these constant thoughts of inadequacy and imperfection will go away.

We recently received the above comment to one of our posts here at Beauty and The Breast, and I thought it was important to highlight this comment because these comments are ones that we hear far too often from young women.

First, I wanted to say to this young woman that I think most all women can relate to what you are saying. I do feel like you left this comment for us because you are trying to reach out, understand yourself better and just try to see if there are other’s that can relate to you. I will be the first to tell you that—–yes, we can ALL relate.

I also want to say that I was in your shoes not that many years ago. I had low self-esteem, I never felt pretty enough, sexy enough, desired enough, smart enough, etc. I decided to go through with getting breast implants when I was 25 years old. I thought they would be the answer to all of my problems, all of my self-esteem issues, and that all would be right in the world if I had them. The truth was that breast implants did not change any of that for me. I was still the exact say girl I always was; only now I was constantly trying to cover myself up because it was very obvious that I had implants. Every time I’d put on a bathing suit everyone would stare at me because my breasts looked like two awkward grapefruits stuck to my chest. I never wore low-cut clothing because; again I was embarrassed that everyone knew I had fake breasts. I have many many friends and family members who have breast implants, and they are the exact same way…constantly trying to “keep them under wraps.”

What you also need to remember is that for a lot of women breast implants make them look heavier and their waists shorter. That is one thing that I don’t think a lot of women think about before getting their implants, and then they are disappointed at the way their bodies look with implants. I know many women who have decided just a few weeks or a few months after getting implants that they are not all they are cracked up to be and opt to have them taken out. Mostly because they are awkward and fake-looking, make them look heavier and just don’t look right on their bodies.

Before going under the knife to get breast implants, or any cosmetic surgery for that matter I think women need to stop and ask themselves “why am I doing this?” Is it because you think by doing it all of your problems are going to be solved, or your life is going to better, or your self-esteem will be higher? Because breast implants won’t solve ANY of those things. One important lesson I have learned over the past couple of years is that self-esteem and beauty starts from the inside, it isn’t something that you can buy from a plastic surgeon, or by getting plastic bags inserted into your chest. Far too women think implants will solve their problem….in reality…they won’t.
Now, don’t get me wrong I know we are inundated with “perfect” looking women in magazines, on TV, in the movies…it’s everywhere. And, I know that this is something that is never going to change. Us “real” women are always going to have to compete with these “perfect” women (who by the way aren’t all that perfect, everyone has flaws,) but if we can somehow find our own inner beauty and see & accept our own unique beauty…it is only then that we will be truly beautiful. Self-confidence is what is beautiful, not a manufactured body part.

Melissa, I hope you will be able to find peace and acceptance within yourself, and be able to love yourself as you were created. It sounds like you have a very loving boyfriend, who thinks you are very sexy…what else matters? And, you sound like you have a wonderful body that a lot of women would love to have. I hope you will stop comparing yourself to other girls. You are only setting yourself up for failure when you don’t feel you are as pretty or as perfect as the girls in the magazines. It sounds like your issues are very deep-seated, which scares me and I hope you will take our advice and see a counselor. Getting breast implants is not the answer to your problems, your problem is stemming from what is in your head…you already know that. You need to work on loving and accepting yourself, the day you will be able to do that is the day you will see that you don’t need breast implants to be beautiful.

You are right when you say “so many young women are being affected by these things.” Your comment made it sound like they were a disease…which in my mind THEY ARE! I hope you will not be one of the young women affected by them, because trust me…they aren’t worth it. I wish my whole heart and soul that I could turn back the clock to 5 years ago and never get them. For me, would you consider never letting them affect your life like they have mine?
Sincerely, Krista

Something deeply disturbing happened this week, and I need your input. I’m having trouble even figuring out where to begin. Recently my class of pre-teens/teens was instructed on hygiene: how to keep clean, what shampoo and conditioner are for, importance of brushing teeth, etc. It was a great presentation and the kids were totally into it and seemed to have a good handle on how to take care of themselves. Well, knowing what to do and doing it are completely different things, as we would come to find out.

The hygiene lesson stemmed from the need of a female student in particular…okay, frankly it was a hair intervention, the kind your friends or parents usually perform, long before middle school. The girl comes to school every day with a mop of hair on her head that looks like it has never seen a day with a comb. It looks as if it’s been teased to the point that it’s angry and looking for revenge.

Our bright idea was to see if she would want to volunteer for a hair makeover, which she happily did. At first we considered taming the frizz/curls/clumps with water and hair gel (while teaching her to twist and let dry). We didn’t want to make the furr ball bigger, so we opted for using a straightener instead. We were all set to start the process and learned that underneath the top layer of unbrushed but manageable strands there were not 1 but 2 layers of matted clumps. I have never quite seen anything like it. At first glance it was overwhelming, but then it just kind of made us angry, as this young girl needed someone to walk her through self-care and she obviously wasn’t getting what she needs.

While working on the tangles, the girl was questioned about when she washed her hair last… and she couldn’t remember! It had been so long that she had no idea when her hair had last touched soap; according to the mess we find, it was absolutely believable. The finished product looked great! She had beautifully straightened hair (which was still quite bushy and therefore we taught her how to secure it with a ponytail holder) and she was beaming from ear to ear. Her hair had grown several inches just in the detangling process alone. She left my class feeling on top of the world, and I later learned that all of the adults (and kids) were singing her praises, which she responded well to. The big test would come the next day, when we would see what she would do with her new tangle-free locks.

Things might have gone differently had I not opened my big mouth during the makeover. I made the mistake of saying, “When you straighten your hair, sometimes you can get by with not washing it for 2 days or so.” I thought this would be a good thing, as I was encouraging everyone by saying you won’t have to spend this much time on it every day, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew it was a mistake. When I saw her the next day, I noticed that for the most part, her hair was back to its crazy self. It wasn’t quite as bad, but it still wasn’t good. The worst part of it was that now it had tons of gel in it that needed to be desparately washed out… and soon! When I talked to someone else about this, they reassured me by saying, “No, the gel is a good thing… at least it smells nice.”

Next year, we have made plans to do a thorough hair intervention, complete with shampooing guidance and everything. But I can’t help but think… will it stick? Has anyone else had experience with this, and what can I do to help this little one out?

~Kacey

I found an interesting website that gives the low down on the unhealthiest drinks per category (http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/Unhealthiest_Drinks_in_America/index.php).  With summer calling, perhaps we should think twice before downing a glass of tea (and especially a milkshake!)  And from what I’ve read, perhaps we should avoid Baskin Robins altogether…they’ve got several drinks over a 1,000 calories each that made this list!  The worst drink in America: Baskin Robins Large Heath Bar Shake with a total of 2,310 calories (108 fat grams). I’m all for ice cream (it’s one of my all-time favs), but there’s a definite line that does not need to be crossed.  I don’t want to eat a thousand calories of anything!

~Kacey