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Hollywood's Influence on Cosmetic Surgery

Modern re-constructive surgery began in the 1920s with the return of so many wounded and disfigured soldiers from World War I. It wasn't long before the rich and famous were clamoring for these renowned surgeons to "repair" parts of their bodies, as well.

It was in 1923 that one of the first widely reported cosmetic surgeries was performed on a famous actress. That vaudevillian actress was Fanny Brice. She had her nose "bobbed" as a publicity stunt and it certainly had the whole nation talking.

Once one actress used this option as a way to improve her looks and consequently, her career, others soon followed. It wasn't long until those who were considered "High Society" were making appointments with surgeons to follow in the footsteps of Hollywood.

For much of the time, cosmetic surgery in Hollywood was kept as a strict secret. Actors and actresses during the reign of the studio system were instructed on what to say and how to behave in public. All aspects of their public lives were controlled by, and sometimes even invented by the studio heads. They were always to portray their beauty as natural, even though this was rarely the case.

Before Marilyn Monroe became a star, she was said to have had a chin implant. Gary Cooper, on the other hand, had the excess skin in his neck removed because it gave him the appearance of having a double chin. Even John Wayne had a few procedures to tighten the skin on his neck, a facelift, and a procedure to remove the puffiness and lines around his eyes. The facts about all of these procedures and more didn't become known until either after the actor's death or much later in his or her life.

It was the combination of two things, the demise of the studio system and its complete control over the actor's life and the emergence of the 60s generation, which insisted that everyone "Let it all hang out" that began to make cosmetic surgery more accessible. It became "vogue" for many of the newer actors and actresses to be up-front about their cosmetic surgeries. And even before these public confessions, cosmetic surgery for the stars was becoming more and more widely reported in gossip magazines and newspaper columns. Those who had the means were taking their cues from Hollywood and undergoing elective surgeries.

It wasn't until the 1980s that the general public began to accept cosmetic surgery as a viable option. Before the 1980s, more than two thirds of Americans polled would never consider cosmetic surgery and disapproved of anyone who would undergo such a procedure. After 1980, an entire generation had been raised hearing about and personally knowing people who'd had cosmetic surgery. By then, more than 50% of Americans at this time approved of cosmetic surgery and accepted it as a viable option.

Within a total of 90 years, cosmetic surgery has gone from a purely medical, reconstructive practice to an elective procedure performed on hundreds of thousands of Americans. Today, polls show that more than 20% of Americans have either had cosmetic surgery or are planning to undergo surgery in the near future.

Cosmetic surgery would not be nearly as prevalent as it is today without Hollywood's influence. It is those Hollywood stars that we see on the screen that encourages us to look at ourselves and say, "I want to look like that."

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