Spring Break
The Daily OrangePopularity of breast implants grows despite high cost, long recovery time
By Steve Bollard
Posted: 3/31/04, 1:45 AM EST Section: Feature
Implants are not always a one-time surgery. Almost one-quarter of all saline breast implants will need to be operated on a second time within five years of insertion, according to the Food and Drug Administration. There's also an unspoken expiration date on most implants. Few can be expected to last longer than 10 years.
But despite all of the drawbacks, some women are still willing to withstand such a procedure.
"Guys see women with big boobs as sex objects," said Kristin Sundberg, a sophomore retail major. "A lot of women do it to feel better about themselves."
"It's like an attention grabber. You're going to be drawn to the boobs," said Korey Kryder, a freshman computer engineering major.
There are legitimate medical reasons for wanting breast implants, such as the loss of a breast from cancer, but the majority of implants are done with aesthetics principally in mind. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery conducted a survey in 2003 in which 91 percent of people interviewed said their main reason for getting breast implants was to look better without clothes. Other top reasons were to feel better about themselves and to feel less self-conscious.
"There's so much pressure placed on what you look like," said Amy Travis, a junior advertising and marketing major.
The topic of breast implants is often coupled with the effect that Hollywood has on the collective mind-set. A 2003 study released by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign concluded that exposure to ideal body images on television would lead to women's use of surgical body alteration. Young adults who were exposed to idealized images were more likely to approve of body augmentation as opposed to those who were only exposed to normal body images, the study said.
"I think college-aged girls would have implants because of social pressures to conform," said Tirza Leader, professor of social psychology at Syracuse University. "Most images in the media are of women with large breasts."
"The image out there reflects big boobs," said Jessica Melillo, a sophomore interior design major. "As you get into this age, there's more of a sexual emphasis."
But despite all of the drawbacks, some women are still willing to withstand such a procedure.
"Guys see women with big boobs as sex objects," said Kristin Sundberg, a sophomore retail major. "A lot of women do it to feel better about themselves."
"It's like an attention grabber. You're going to be drawn to the boobs," said Korey Kryder, a freshman computer engineering major.
There are legitimate medical reasons for wanting breast implants, such as the loss of a breast from cancer, but the majority of implants are done with aesthetics principally in mind. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery conducted a survey in 2003 in which 91 percent of people interviewed said their main reason for getting breast implants was to look better without clothes. Other top reasons were to feel better about themselves and to feel less self-conscious.
"There's so much pressure placed on what you look like," said Amy Travis, a junior advertising and marketing major.
The topic of breast implants is often coupled with the effect that Hollywood has on the collective mind-set. A 2003 study released by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign concluded that exposure to ideal body images on television would lead to women's use of surgical body alteration. Young adults who were exposed to idealized images were more likely to approve of body augmentation as opposed to those who were only exposed to normal body images, the study said.
"I think college-aged girls would have implants because of social pressures to conform," said Tirza Leader, professor of social psychology at Syracuse University. "Most images in the media are of women with large breasts."
"The image out there reflects big boobs," said Jessica Melillo, a sophomore interior design major. "As you get into this age, there's more of a sexual emphasis."
