Okay, so I watched it.  I just had to.  After all, I really don’t have enough complain about.  In case you are not familiar with the show, The Swan is the latest type of reality show where women who are dubbed “ugly ducklings” are turned into “beautiful swans” that are suddenly beauty pageant material.  The transformation occurs via a team of plastic surgeons, a cosmetic dentist, a personal trainer, a counselor, and a “coach” (I’m still not sure what the coach’s role is in all this).  Then they compete in a beauty pageant where the winner gets $50,000, a trip to Hawaii, a new Jag, a college scholarship, etc, etc, etc.

What the hell are we trying to teach people with this show?  That someone can walk into a doctor’s office and pay a ton of money and walk out with all the happiness they didn’t have before?  A lot of these women had unhappy marriages, relationships, etc, and we are led to believe that these problems in their lives are because they were not deemed beautiful by society’s standards.  I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit.  If you’re beautiful, your husband can still cheat on you.  Your boyfriend can still beat you up.  Your significant other and/or family can still be unsupportive of you.  You can still have discord and chaos and periodic bouts of depression in your life.  Plastic surgery cannot cure these ills.

Checking out these women on the Internet in before and after photos, most of them really didn’t need plastic surgery.  They needed a strict diet, exercise, a dentist, and a therapist.  Maybe a nose job here and there, but a really great makeover would have done most of them justice.  Instead they’ve had thousands and thousands of dollars of plastic surgery, just to become plastic lawn-ornament-style swans.  Some of them are even less attractive than they were before.  The show gives new meaning to, “A team of plastic surgeons can’t help you.”  And that’s the sad thing.   We’re also told that they made such tremendous transformations inside that they are totally happy with themselves inside and out.  That’s crap as well.  If I just had a team of plastic surgeons working on me, and I anticipated looking beautiful, I would feel pretty damned good inside, too.  But it's short-lived.  Very short-lived.

The worst damage the show does is the morals it is passing on to the youth of today.  When I was a teenager, I was overwhelmed with the realization that I wasn’t beautiful.  I was a tomboy, and I dressed like it and acted like it.  I didn’t wear makeup, and didn’t mess with my hair.  I didn’t look like the girls in my Seventeen magazine and I knew I would never find myself kissing Kirk Cameron onscreen (yes, I realize that dates me).  I knew that 99.6% of the guys in my high school never looked in my direction, and I was “just friends” with the other .4%.  Even if I had done my hair or makeup or even dressed up a little, it would not have changed a thing.  I simply am not a supermodel.  

But with a more intense concentration on how you look, I can’t even imagine what teenage girls (and boys) go through nowadays.  Society is very tough today on how we look, whether you’re a teenager or adult, and single adults have an impossible time.  Walk into any bar and you’ll instantly realize why the pressure of dating today is enough to crush you...and also why we don't pick up people in bars.  It’s all about appearance.  That’s hard enough.  What we don’t need is a show like The Swan adding to the concept that beauty is everything.  It only perpetuates self-doubt and low self-esteems.  Television needs to reiterate the truth that plastic surgery does not make a person perfect.  It only makes us unreal. 

Here’s my confession of the month:  I’ve been where a lot of these women are.  I gained quite a bit of weight after a lung surgery six years ago, and the changes in my body resulted in adult acne.  Then I worked my ass off and lost the weight, and saw a dermatologist until my complexion cleared.  Even today, I’m not even close to being 50% satisfied with how I look.  I still have a few extra pounds on the waistline, my muscle definition isn’t up to par, having kids definitely left its mark, I hate my teeth, I’m starting to get wrinkles, I could do without wearing contacts/glasses, and my best friend apparently received my entire share of bust size when we were created…I could go on and on and on.  Does that mean I need to run to the nearest plastic surgeon’s office?  Hell, no.  If I allow my outsides to carve my insides, then a plastic surgeon can never help me.  On the flipside, I’m not going to completely let myself go.  I’m going to fight fluctuating weight with diet and exercise, I’ll battle those wrinkles with cream, and so on.  But in the end, God did not make me perfect, and I accept that.  He didn’t make any of us perfect.  And that’s the beautiful thing about imperfection.

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not against plastic surgery.  I think if you want it done, then do it.  Just make sure you’re satisfied with yourself inside first and know that any outside changes are not going to solve your problems.  Expecting the outside to change the inside will only result in becoming obsessed with your appearance…and ego has the power to make even the most beautiful people ugly.

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