Bodily Perfection: American Obsession

The American Obsession with Bodily Perfection
America is a growing and changing nation, but one characteristic has outlasted the years. The obsession for a socially-accepted body, whether it be wearing a corset, being big and voluptuous or, for men, being muscular and lean, has always existed. The culprit, a negative body image, now haunts approximately eight million people across the United States and is beginning to seep into more American minds as the “Perfect” disease spreads (Davis 8). In the past decade, the pressure to have “the perfect body” has dramatically increased in America; every individual in this nation has a different view of what “the perfect body” actually is, and many people who are seeking it are willing to take radical
This shot was originally used by physicians to calm their patient’s twitchy eye muscles, but it is now used for many reasons including the reduction of wrinkles, the main reason, and the elimination of migraine symptoms. This physician injects Botox in the problem spots of the face, freezing nerve impulses and making the face void of expression. Patients, after this muscle paralyzing procedure, cannot frown, squint, raise their eyebrows, or show any sign of disappointment or excitement. Botox, also, is a diluted poison and, if not thoroughly diluted, it may cause botulism, a sometimes fatal form of food poisoning. Other complications this injection of vanity may promote are the loss of ability to raise one’s eyebrows all the way, the excess of drooling due to paralysis of the mouth and the permanent loss of facial expressions. Also, this procedure cannot cure all wrinkles, for some naturally emerge and some are actually caused by the position of certain muscles under the skin. So, as Michael D. Lemonick states, “Botox isn’t a cure-all, and it has some pretty odd side effects. But if you don’t mind getting shot up with poison and you don’t mind paralyzing parts of your face—well, you’ve got plenty of