Nip/tuck nation

It's your high school graduation and your parents offer to buy you a special gift. What do you ask for? A necklace from Tiffany & Co.? An Apple PowerBook? A European tour? These days, teenage girls have something else in mind: They are asking their parents for a new pair of $5,000 breasts. \nBut hey, when it comes to your child's happiness, no price is too high. Or is it?\nFrom 2002 to 2003, the American Academy of Plastic Surgeons witnessed a 24 percent increase in the number of teenagers undergoing breast augmentation. Patient-safety advocates believe teens undergoing such surgeries might be at high risk for injury. David Sarwer, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said there are emotional risks, too. \n"The big problem with adolescents is they are being operated on at the most tumultuous time in their bodies," Sawyer said. "They may not recognize the permanence of what they're doing." \nWith everything in the news about the dangers of plastic surgery, specifically silicone implants, here is a generation of girls that view acquiring larger breasts to be as quick and simple as downloading a new ringtone to their cell phones. But in our nip/tuck nation, it isn't just teens getting implants. Breast augmentation was the second most common cosmetic procedure for women in 2004. Growing up in a culture that idolizes breasts -- a culture in which more people are likely to have heard of Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith than Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan -- it's not surprising that girls and women alike find small breasts substandard.\nIn recent years, we have witnessed a rise in plastic surgery television shows such as "Nip/Tuck," "The Swan" and "Dr. 90210." MTV took plastic surgery television to an entirely new level with the show "I Want a Famous Face," featuring 22-year-old Brandi, a dancer who goes under the knife to attain a higher level of commitment from her boyfriend as well as a Maxim magazine cover. Brandi undergoes a breast augmentation to look like Carmen Electra because, as she claims, "Carmen Electra is so cool and sexy and she's got a wonderful body." \nPlastic surgery is a quick fix to a long-term problem. We all have confidence issues. But part of the entire process of growing up is learning to deal with this "awkward stage" we all go through. \nIt might be true that looking good in a low-cut V-neck tank top is crucial to scoring a hot date for Saturday night. But there are far more important things in life than having cleavage. And for a savings of about $4,950 and no risk of injury, the less endowed can always purchase a Wonderbra.\nWe need to stop and think about what really matters to us. Our physical bodies are just one aspect of who we are -- an aspect that will only continue to deteriorate, droop, wrinkle and sag as we age. Our inner beauty, on the other hand, will stay with us forever. It is what is inside our bodies, not outside, that will define who we are in the end.