Natural Beauty...

What is it with us women that we never seem to be quite happy with what we have got?

We feel the need to wear make up, fake tan, hair extensions - and yeh maybe this is fakery but what about when it comes to going under the knife to look a certain way. Is that just one step to far? Shouldn't we just appreciate what we have got, look after ourselves and make the most of it.

For one of my uni assignments I had to write a news report on an issue that affects students. I chose body image. I asked 25 girls aged between 16 and 21, if they had the opportunity to have any plastic surgery at no cost, would they have anything done. Only two of these girls said that they would choose not have anything. Two! What does that say about young women nowadays. Are we too obsessed with how we look, so much so that we would be our body through immense strain and pain to look 'good'?

You see I'm a bit bias when it comes to this, in the sense that I would go under the knife to look the way that I want to look. If I was given the opportunity to have a breast enlargement free of charge then I would jump at the opportunity, and maybe people will think that that is just for vanity, but I wouldn't be doing it for anyone else. I wouldn't be doing it so I could flaunt them at every opportunity and have them out to attract men. I would be doing it completely for me, to feel much more confident in myself. If I'm honest, when I get to 21 if there has been no change I will be paying £3,500 to get them done. Why not? If there is no natural way to achieve something you want that is going to make you feel happier as a person, then why shouldn't you consider plastic surgery. It's not as though I would go to the extreme and JJ cup it, a nice C would do me fine!

But when it comes to surgery I don't necessarily think that it is the only option in all circumstances. 20 out of the 25 girls i asked said they would like liposuction. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a perfectly flat stomach but I definitely do not think that having liposuction is the best way to do that. Surely exercise would be better. Yes the result wouldn't be instant but it would be a healthier option, there is no pain involved, and lets face it its a hell of a lot cheaper.

It makes me question though are women's magazines the reason why so many young women feel this way about their bodies? It is pretty rare to see a curvy woman across the pages of Vogue or Harpers Bazaar. Now I know that a lot of the photographs shown in these magazines are photoshopped so the models skin looks perfect, they look very skinny, toned legs, perfect breasts - it all results in a pretty idealistic un natural woman that ends up being aspired to. As a teenage girl myself body image is definately a big factor for me. I want to be slim, I want to have perfectly tanned skin, I want bigger boobs, I want long flowing hair but lets face it, it isn't realistic. Unless you have got the money to have countless fake tans, hair extensions, plastic surgery, a personal trainee and so on, you're never going to look like a catwalk model.

I understand that you want to feel comfortable in your own skin, but to what extent. Heidi Pratt having 18 or however many procedures in one day, she may feel happier with her massive boobs or her ability to barely make an expression due to the copious amounts of botox in her face, but she is barely recogniseable as herself anymore, and is that what women of today really want.

I think plastic surgery is definately one of those things that you would have to think about for a long time before even considering researching in to it. But it's got to be for yourself, not for anyone else. We all want to look good as much as possible but at the same time you've got to appreciate what is right in front of you. One thing that you may not like about yourself, someone else does. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.