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late twentieth century (Denkler and Hudson, 2015). John H. Woodbury was the first pioneer of cosmetic surgery in the United States and developed many surgical operations in this field (Denkler and Hudson, 2015). Woodbury dedicated his career to fixing and treating facial disfigurements after he had a facial deformity fixed by physicians during his childhood (Denkler and Hudson, 2015). The procedures that Woodbury created and offered at his surgical institutes were those that improved facial imperfections in minor ways. His efforts made the field of plastic surgery innovative and lucrative. Americans’ desires to have these procedures done by Americans made the United States the leader in this field compared to other major countries. In “A Brief History of Plastic Surgery: A Mural’s Perspective” (2015) by Jose Guerrerosantos, Oscar F. Fernandez-Diaz, and Hiram Fernandez-Diaz, the first mural depicting the history of plastic surgery at the Jalisco Reconstructive Surgery Institute is examined. The plastic surgeon’s hand in the center of the mural is "holding a scalpel, ready to improve and correct wounds or deformities through modeling, creating, or reconstructing” (1018). Reconstructive surgery was the first to emerge in the discipline of plastic surgery, but people now associate cosmetic surgery more commonly with 6 plastic surgery. Plastic surgery began as a reconstructive field and has transformed into an industry in which frivolousness thrives and individuals can transform themselves if they have the resources to do so (Denkler and Hudson, 2018). III. Media Exposure and Body Image Body dissatisfaction has become increasingly common in American girls and young women. A meta-analysis done by Shelley Grabe, L. Monique Ward and Janet Shibey Hyde entitled “The Role of the Media in Body Image Concerns Among Women: A MetaAnalysis of Experimental and Correlational Studies” (2008) examined the relationship between body image concerns and exposure to media that contain images of thin characters and celebrities. The type of media exposure analyzed in this meta-analysis consisted of fashion magazines, television commercials and television programs that were appearance-focused. Repeated exposure to this media content leads individuals to accept these images of women as representations of reality. Normalization of these images leads women to become more dissatisfied with their own bodies due to constant comparison. Analysis of research done shows that women feel worse when exposed to images of thin women as opposed to neutral ones. The number of hours a week individuals are exposed to newspapers, radio and other media that may contain messages or images related to the thin ideal can be used as an assessment of alternative media exposure. The results of this study found that overall, media exposure is associated with increased levels of body dissatisfaction in women and increased investment in appearance. Media-induced body dissatisfaction was examined by Julie Slevec and Marika Tiggemann in “Media Exposure, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating in Middle- 7 aged Women” (2011). In this study, one hundred and one women between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-five answered questionnaires that measured media exposure, thinideal internalization, social comparison, appearance investment, aging anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating. The results showed that television exposure was positively related to body dissatisfaction. Although much of the research done on this topic shows a relationship between media exposure and body dissatisfaction in young women, this study successfully shows that there is a relationship between media exposure and body dissatisfaction in other age groups. Body image concerns have become normative in Western society. In “Psychological Functioning, Media Pressure and Body Dissatisfaction among College Women” (2011) by Rodger, Sales and Chabrol, the relationship between media exposure and body dissatisfaction was examined. This article is relevant to my study because it focuses on perceived media pressure to conform to idealized images presented in mass media. Social phobia in combination with media pressure was a significant predictor of body dissatisfaction. This suggests that appearance comparison plays an important role in body dissatisfaction. Individuals who experience social phobias see themselves as lacking in certain areas and are more vulnerable to experience negative feelings and be influenced by social desirability. This study furthered previous research conducted on media exposure in college-aged females and body image by emphasizing the role that social phobias play into individual dissatisfaction. In “Body Dissatisfaction and Body Comparison with Media Images in Males and Females” (2007) by Patricia van den Berg et al., body comparison was examined using media images. The authors of this study investigated whether media body comparison 8 contributed to thin ideal pressures and body dissatisfaction. Participants in this research were males and females who responded to Eating Among Teens, a large epidemiological study that collected information about dietary intake, weight and body image of adolescents of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Assessment of media body comparison
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