Self-esteem from a Scalpel the Ethics of Plastic Surgery

The numbers of patients seeking plastic surgery has skyrocketed in the past decade, and this practice has found increasingly uncritical acceptance. Plastic surgery is commonly subdivided into reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery seeks to restore form and function of a defect in the body, and therefore is a positive moral good that mitigates the effects of the fall. Cosmetic surgery differs in that we are seeking to augment otherwise healthy tissues to improve appearance and self-esteem. Looking through the light of Scripture, I do not believe we have license to condemn all forms of cosmetic surgery. We should be discerning, however, regarding our motivations for pursuing cosmetic surgery. First, we should be careful if our motivations for surgery are principally to increase our self-esteem. The evidence shows the long-term effects of cosmetic surgery are not universally positive, and we should be esteemed not based on our own image, but the image of the God who created us and died for us. Second, we should consider whether our goal for surgery is to normalize our appearance or to enhance our bodies to approximate a perfect ideal. If cosmetic perfection to increase the attention others give us is our motivation, we may not be adhering to the principle of biblical modesty. Last, surgical enhancement supports the idea that our bodies are ours to modify without limit.