Orange County Register

University of Southern California professor Julie Albright says that television shows such as “Nip/Tuck”, “Dr. 90210″ and “Extreme Makeover” fuel demand for an unrealistic definition of beauty.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery:

• The number of 18-year-olds who underwent breast implant surgery tripled from 2002 to 2003
• There has been a 444 percent increase in plastic surgery since 1997
• Over 90% of all plastic surgery is performed on women
• Americans spent approximately $12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2006

“The practice now has incredible visibility, which has led to incredible acceptance, which has led to incredible pressure for women to improve their appearance,” Albright says.

Albright launched a study, “Impossible Bodies” surveying 662 college students in Los Angeles and Buffalo about their viewing habits and body image. The study to be published in next week’s Configurations Journal from Johns Hopkins University Press shows that females in the study equated beauty to wealth and an affluent lifestyle.

“Women are being taught to access power and status through their looks, “ Albright said. “Before women might buy a Louis Vuitton purse to show off their ‘status.’ Now they might buy new breasts as a sign of their success.”

Albright also suggests that women felt a surgically enhanced body was more attractive to men, though men in the study said no.

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