Face up to reality

10:53am Friday 16th May 2008

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THERE was a programme on TV a few weeks ago, about our obsession with the way we look.

As you might expect, there was a segment about plastic surgery and an interview featuring two women from Los Angeles who had had their private parts surgically enhanced.

Only in America - I hope. But you know what they say, what the US does today, we do tomorrow.

This made me think. Would I go under the knife?

Probably not, I'm generally happy with what the Good Lord gave me and I don't have a burning desire to have any part of my body enlarged or reduced.

Another woman featured on this programme had actually had her feet altered so they would fit her designer shoes. Has the world gone completely mad?

The only thing I wouldn't fancy is ending up with a really wrinkly face but that shouldn't happen, because I seem to have inherited my mum's good skin.

But if I did start to look like any old prune, I may consider a face lift. Finances permitting, of course.

What also alarmed me about the programme was that while the two women who had had their bits refurbished weren't exactly in the first flush of youth, the surgeon who carried out the procedure - the very thought of which brings tears to my eyes - had also operated on girls as young as 16.

Surely there's something wrong with a society where teenagers feel the compulsion to go under the knife?

We are bombarded with images of "physical perfection" every day. I've often been in the supermarket heading towards the TV listings magazines, only to be distracted by the sight of some scantily clad babe pouting at me from the cover of a so-called lads' magazine.

They look amazing of course, but more of us need to wake up to the fact that many of these images have been airbrushed to hide nature's flaws. Impressionable young women should especially take note.