Cosmetic Procedures to Look Whiter Don't Boost Self-Esteem

Michael Jackson may be a classic case of what can happen when plastic surgery goes too far. And a new study shows that undergoing plastic surgery treatments in the hope of transforming various ethnic features isn't just dangerous, but it won't change your mindset about how your physical features.  

As many black or racially mixed women in Venezuela opt to undergo nose jobs in an effort to appear more Caucasian, this procedure only temporarily improves their self-esteem and body image in a culture that values whiteness.

According to researchers from Dartmouth College, the country's obsession with physical appearance prompts concerns for many women who may now feel they need larger breasts, face lifts, liposuction or other enhancement procedures.

Assistant professor of anthropology Lauren Gulbas looked at how aesthetic ideals promoted by the cosmetic surgery industry interact with local ideas about race in Caracas, where she focused on procedures involving rhinoplasty.

The study looked at 63 white, black or racially mixed women-24 who had undergone rhinoplasty and 39 who were looking to change their nose through this type of procedure. All were looking for a more well-defined nose that fits the description of tall and slender. They felt , according to the study, that this would improve their self-esteem by giving them a 'whiter' appearance.

"Rhinoplasty is offered by physicians and interpreted by patients as a resolution to body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem," Gulbas writes, according to a press release, but that thinking fails to acknowledge how perceptions of the self and body are strongly tied to racial marginalization. "Patients' efforts to alter the nose reveal attempts to change not only how the body looks, but how it is lived. As a result, cosmetic surgery only acts as a stop-gap measure to heighten one's self-esteem and body image."

More information regarding the study can be found in the journal Qualitative Health Research.