Kylie Jenner’s 7 surgeries spark debate on teenage operations

Several publications report that Kylie Jenner has had several operations from September 2009 to April, 2014

According to the American Society of Plastic surgeons, almost 219,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 in 2010 and the latest statistics show that the number of teenagers getting plastic surgery have gone up since then. This is mostly fueled by society’s perception and projection of the ideal woman.

Pop culture has molded these standards that young women feel they must meet to consider themselves beautiful. Weight, height, eye shape, waist size, jaw line, lip volume. It’s enough to send your head into a spin.

For example, if you don’t have a thigh gap, you’re considered fat. This motivates girls to get lipo when they don’t need it. Others might want to get a tummy tuck for that flat belly silhouette that looks so good in low-cut jeans.

Society also makes it difficult for women of different races, ethnicity or cultures to consider themselves beautiful — at least globally. When society’s ideal woman isn’t an Arabian girl with a hijab over her head and a dress that goes down to her ankles, she doesn’t consider herself beautiful — at least in our culture.

In fact, they call Iran “the nose job capital of the world” because since the Iranian dress code requires women to hide their whole body, it emphasizes their face. Iranian noses are known for being large so women and even men change it to meet up to the standards of Western cultures.

But while society always comes up with the latest personification of a perfect face and body, the ideal features for a woman have changed over history.

In ancient Egypt, slender shoulders, a symmetrical face and a high waist were desirable attributes. In ancient Greece and during the Renaissance, pale skin and plump bodies were idolized.

In China’s Han Dynasty, small feet and big eyes were the most important features. Wide hips and a large bosom on a tiny waist was a look developed with corsets in the Victorian Era. That trend reversed and flat chested girls with boyish figures became the ideal in the roaring twenties.

The curvy, hourglass figure came back during Hollywood’s golden age. The thin “Twiggy look” was in during the 60s — long and thin with lanky arms and legs. Not until the 1980s did athletic women’s bodies — curved but strong with toned arms ala Sports Illustrated — become the desired type.

The “heroin chic” look of the grungy 90s had girls going anorexic for that ultra thin, gaunt look and translucent skin.

But today’s post-modern woman is the type of body that can most be achieved with plastic surgery: Large breasts, perky bottoms, luscious lips are the staples.

So, history teaches us one thing: There is no such thing as perfection and anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. Unless it’s because of a scar or birth defect, like a cleft palate, plastic surgery is a bad idea for young women. Our bodies aren’t done developing yet. If you change what your nose looks like now, you’ll never get a chance to see what your nose will look like in a couple of years and you might like it then.

If you’re underage, considering plastic surgery and don’t believe me; here are several people your age that can tell you otherwise.

“A lot of people look prettier after high school and with plastic surgery, it ruins your chances of that.”

— Carolina, 15

— Isabel, 17