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We’ve all heard the horrific “pumping party” tales of women looking to get a little plump in the rump. They’re often led by unlicensed non-professionals who inject silicone, Krazy Glue, and even cement into bodies that are forever altered. Some women lose limbs as a result of this deplorable and illegal practice. Others, their lives. Just this week we told you about the Maryland woman who died after getting an illegal butt lift procedure done in a basement in Queens.
This is an extreme example, but it helps to exemplify the stigma long associated with cosmetic surgery in the Black community. Not only is it perceived as dangerous (even in the hands of reputable doctors, no cosmetic surgery is 100% safe), but it is also seen as something a lot of Black women and women of color in general just don’t do. That could explain, in small part, the underground pumping party phenomenon.
Whether it be rhinoplasty, breast implants or face-lifts, cosmetic surgery has been thought to be an impossible quest for perfection. A desire to reverse the aging process, and a quick fix confidence booster to remedy a perceived flaw. Depending on the kind of procedure, there’s also the assumption that if you’re a Black woman going under the knife, you’re trying to erase the physical signs of your race and are therefore adhering to Eurocentric standards of beauty. These standards ignore or condemn our features, but laud them on white skin. A little nip here and a little tuck there, especially on the face, is thought to result in an unnatural, stiff look that renders people unrecognizable. Botox and skin bleaching form separate categories of hate and shade altogether, and that’s no pun intended.
In an attempt to demystify all of these assumptions and taboos, Dr. Nia Banks, an African-American board certified plastic surgeon and owner of Beaux Arts Institute of Plastic Surgery in Lanham, Maryland, spoke to Roland Martin in a 2014 NewsOne Now interview. According to Dr. Banks, “Most people get plastic surgery because they’re trying to get back something they already had. They’re not trying to look like somebody else, they’re not trying to never age.” The most common surgeries her office performs are liposuctions, tummy tucks, and breast lifts. These are often done to repair dramatic changes incurred during pregnancy. So while we’re used to seeing surgeries that have gone too far, the healthy way to use plastic surgery, Dr. Banks asserts, is as a means to enhance, not to be completely transformed.
“Most women don’t want a radical change,” Dr. Banks continues. “That’s a red flag…Most women who get plastic surgery actually have a very strong self-esteem, looking to change something very specific. If someone comes in and says, ‘I want to look like so and so,’ that’s usually a red flag, because that’s not achievable.”
But red flags don’t keep all doctors from operating on people who have had one too many procedures done. Like the late Michael Jackson, who was clearly addicted to cosmetic surgery, or Lil Kim, who could very well suffer from body dysmorphic disorder. It’s that willingness to operate on patients, no matter the psychological cost, which helps to keep the plastic surgery taboo alive.
But it seems that things are starting to change. In fact, many celebrities have spoken openly about the work they’ve had done, including NeNe Leakes, Porsha Williams, Wendy Williams, and Kelly Rowland. And the numbers prove it as well. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, cosmetic surgery is up six-fold since 1997. The biggest spike in plastic surgery in 2014 was butt augmentation, up a whopping 86% from the year before. Even labiaplasty – Yep, they do that too – rose by 49%. Here are some more staggering statistics: 15.1 million Americans had cosmetic procedures done in 2013 alone. From 2005 to 2013, cosmetic surgeries done on African Americans increased by 56%. And with the popularity of reality shows like Botched, Dr. 90210, and The Swan over the years, it’s easy to see why cosmetic surgery has become more commonplace, less secretive, and less taboo, both in the U.S. as a whole and particularly in the Black community.
So while the stigma is waning, the pressures that women face in our youth-driven, beauty-obsessed society are still very real. Some businesses even offer “mommy makeover” packages that promise to lift and tuck women in all the right places.
Ultimately, there are a myriad reasons why women choose to get cosmetic surgery. Should you decide to undergo a procedure, do your research and make sure that you approach it from a sound and mentally stable place. And seek out a doctor who has worked with Black skin, as ours is more prone to keloids and scarring. While there are more questions than answers when it comes to the psychological effects of cosmetic surgery, one thing is certain: there are no easy fixes.
