Brides-to-be compete for plastic surgery on Bridalplasty, which premiered this week on E! The show promises, “each week one lucky bride will … get one piece of her dream body – going under the knife for one of the surgeries off her ‘wish list.” Grand prize is a full-body makeover, just in time for the wedding.

As Jezebel reports, in the first episode contestants covered their “gross” bodies with what were deemed more appealing photoshopped pictures of themselves. The show’s surgeon told one woman, “You have perfect breasts…for doing a breast augmentation.” Next, he marked too-fat areas on size 0 women for liposuction.

One commenter responded with an image:

Really, can you get more objectified than dissecting and judging body parts? Or seeing a woman’s worth primarily in those parts? Then creating some Frankensteinish creature in response?

Some women die in plastic surgery, from infections or complications from anesthesia, as though the shell of the outer self were worth the sacrifice. Surely these women didn’t expect to die, yet they gave up their whole selves in worship of their “parts.”

Continuing the shallow theme, Bridalplasty is as much about sales as anything. Like much of marketing, the show focuses on making women feel bad about themselves so they’ll go out and buy.

You’re size 0? You can still rid yourself of any remaining fat with just a little surgery. You name it, you can buy it: breast implants, liposuction, chin lift, nose job.  BUY, BUY, BUY!

Bridalplasty is one big advertisement.

As contest winners were told to “Grab your syringe and go down to the injecting party” I felt transported to a Brave New World where surface is All.

Brave New World brought me an appreciation for delving beneath the superficiality of physical “perfection” and Prozac feel-good, which never scratch the surface into intellectual or emotional depth.

All this focus on physical perfection. Whose notion of physical perfection?

What’s deemed beautiful varies from culture to culture. Tribal societies prefer the equivalent of an A-cup, while parts of West Africa celebrate roundedness — the bigger the woman, the better!

Instead of following like lemmings, why not promote real beauty and create healthy notions that appreciate variety as the spice of life – whether lovely rounded-curvy or AA sexy cute.

The one bright spot? The show’s poor ratings give us hope.

Georgia Platts

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