By Aneet Kaur
From Seoul to Shanghai, and now gaining radical popularity all across the world, cosmetic surgery has become less of a taboo and more of a trend. But when does self-expression cross into self-doubt — and who’s profiting from our insecurities?
Inspired by the BBC World Service documentary “Make Me Perfect: Manufacturing Beauty in China”, this article explores the rising pressures young people face to look a certain way — and what that might be costing us.
A Mirror of Modern Beauty
In the documentary, young women in China share their stories of undergoing plastic surgery, many influenced by social media, societal expectations, and even school environments where appearance is ranked as a measure of success. One story follows a girl who was left, not just physically scarred, but psychologically shaken, after a botched procedure.
And here’s the chilling reality:
Every year, 20 million Chinese people pay for cosmetic procedures.
Eighty percent of them are women. The average age? Just 25.
Behind those glossy post-op selfies are statistics that don’t lie. A whole generation is being reshaped — literally — by a standard of beauty that keeps moving further from reality.
It’s easy to think this is a world away from us — but is it really?
Scroll through your feed. Count how many faces you see with glass skin, perfectly contoured noses, and jawlines sharper than reality. We’ve all seen it — and for some, the pressure to look “better” stops being external. It becomes something internal. Something urgent.
At school, I believe there to be almost a quiet competition — not just for the best grades, but for the “best” looks. I remember a conversation with a friend who admitted, “Sometimes I feel like I need to look like those influencers to be noticed. It’s hard not to feel behind if I’m not up to date with the latest beauty trends.” It struck me how universal this pressure is, even within our school walls.
The New Normal?
In the UK, cosmetic surgery rates have been rising. And while not every procedure is extreme or unsafe, the normalisation of these choices among young people raises serious questions. Are we really choosing to change ourselves — or are we being subtly told we should?
At school, in our friend groups, and even in private conversations, the topic of appearance is never far away. For some, filters and apps blur the line between what’s real and what’s possible. For others, the decision to get “just a little tweak” is now met with less shock and more curiosity.
But when even that “little tweak” goes wrong — as seen in the documentary — the consequences can be severe.
So, why does this matter? Because we’re the generation growing up in this world, and if we don’t start asking questions — about who’s setting the standards and who’s benefiting — we risk becoming the next faces in another documentary, wondering how it all got so far.
Plastic surgery isn’t inherently wrong. For some, it’s empowering. But it’s not a decision that should be made lightly — or under pressure.
What’s worrying is how quietly that pressure creeps in. How easily beauty becomes currency. And how quickly confidence can turn into comparison.
Final Thought
The documentary ends not with a solution, but with a question: Who is beauty really for?
I think that’s something we all need to ask ourselves, too. When I reflect on the way we approach beauty — both at school and online — it feels like we’re constantly battling with two sides: the side that tells us to be “authentic”, and the side that tells us to be perfect. It’s not easy to navigate, but by asking these hard questions, maybe we’ll find a way to define beauty for ourselves.