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Cheating Darwin: The Genetic and Ethical Implications of Vanity and Cosmetic Plastic Surgery - Kristi Scott
Submitted by admin on 27 April, 2007 - 09:18
Kristi Scott
Evolution continually strives to keep the best genes around to proliferate the species. Emerging cosmetic surgeries inadvertently attempt to cheat this by altering external flaws and ignoring the intact internal code where the flaws remain. Without the undesirable physical characteristics people who otherwise may not have been are able to become more desirable to partners for procreation. TV shows are demonstrating the advantages over evolution that can be taken with the right amount of time and money. What we see on the outside is not what we are going to get on the inside, genetically. With more and more people flocking to cosmetic procedures at younger ages, doctors and consumers need to understand and discuss the importance of this dramatic misrepresentation to the opposite sex. While there is a right to do the procedures, those who do so prior to child bearing and even those who do not, are faced with some choices both now and in the future.
Kristi Scott
Intern, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Kristi Scott is a Master of Liberal Studies student at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN. Her focus is on Advertising/Marketing, Mass Communication and society, with a special interest in transhumanism and science. Kristi is a freelance writer for Evansville Living magazine and a freelance graphic designer for local area businesses. She is also a member of the Junior League of Evansville.
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Cosmetic surgery and evolution
Firstly, evolution has no program and no goals, its only result is survival of certain species. The process is observable only in periods of time almost incomprehensible to ourselves. The fear that cosmetic surgery or cosmetics from a tube will adversely affect it is groundless, mostly because 'thousands of years' mean nothing in evolutionary time scales.We would have to exercise a social practice for hundreds of thousands of years at the very least to have an effect on our evolution.Given our constantly changing cultures and societies , this is unlikely. The concept of beauty is not constant or universal either.
I really enjoyed this
I really enjoyed this article, which I read on the net. However, as far as Darwin is concerned, I think a lot of people enjoy looking at beauty in the here-and-now and place a greater emphasis (as far as children are concerned) on whether the partner will be a good provider and/or caretaker.
Marrying someone attractive does not guarantee attractive children. And two nice-looking people but not supermodels themselves could produce what society deems a supermodel.
Is genetics the only ground for natural selection?
I liked this brief entry a lot, and would love to read a more extended text about the concept.
From this reading I think your analysis is not as deep as it should be, natural selection does not only base on beauty and genetics, there are other standards like, power (money-wise and not) which do interact on the decisions individuals make when choosing partners, for procreation.
Therefore, I think a deeper analysis is required, since, even when I agree that surgery is a new way to disguise our flaws, in the same way, cosmetics did for a couple thousand years now.
One more idea I’d like to share is the fact that, for a long time, having money for a plastic surgery was a demonstration of status/power, the procedures were expensive and therefore, my first concept would get mixed with this one and probably approve plastic surgery as a way of showing a higher status from the "patience" in society, making him/her more apealing for prospect partners (for their power and not only beauty), and therefore viable. This has changed and continues changing, with cheaper plastic surgeries available.
Finally, plastic surgery is not the panacea, there are plenty of risks, and your face may end up like Frankenstein’s from repeated surgeries.
Anyway, I'm interested in the subject and would love to read more about it!