Transcriber: Elisabeth Buffard Reviewer: Rana Karjy
People have strong opinions about my profession.
So let me ask you a question.
Who here has ever had a procedure to improve their appearance?
I did.
Well, not too many hands, but is that really true?
Who showered this morning?
(Laughter)
Who’s using makeup?
Who’s wearing a lipstick?
Who shaved …
and who is exercising regularly to get in shape?
Well, all of them could be considered as appearance-approving procedures.
We all work on our appearance every day,
and if we didn’t,
we probably would look a bit like Tom Hanks in Castaway
after spending four years with Wilson on that island.
I’m a dermatologist.
I work in the field of dermatology,
aesthetic treatments and plastic surgery since 2001,
But people have been trying to improve their appearance for centuries.
As long ago as 13,500 B.C.,
women coloured their lips
and as early as 1,200 B.C.,
basic rhinoplasty has been performed in India.
Procedures may have changed,
but the objectives remained the same in all countries and cultures.
But why?
Why is the allure of beauty so powerful?
Beauty triggers and seduces us.
It catches our attention and holds it.
It can open up opportunities and create higher status.
It can lead to recognition and admiration.
And studies have shown that people have a bias
towards assuming that attractive people possess positive characteristics,
like friendliness, warmth and intelligence.
Today, beauty is a multibillion-dollar industry.
In the United States alone,
people spend more money on beauty than on education.
And the forefront of beauty, or beauty industry,
providers of Botox fillers and cosmetic surgery,
is expected to grow up by 15% annually within the next five years.
And as a dermatologist,
I know that cosmetic surgery has a bad reputation in the eyes of many.
People wonder why others want to change the way they look.
However, when used properly,
plastic surgery is a good thing and is helping thousands of people every day.
People with cleft palettes, burnt skin,
or disfigurement caused by accident or disease.
Plastic and reconstructive surgery helped me after my motorbike accident
whenI lost my lower left leg.
But even a simple nose job can help people to feel better about themselves.
And in the interest of full transparency, I had a nose job myself,
a hair transplant, and even a little bit of liposuction.
These treatments help me to feel more confident,
especially the liposuction and the hair transplant.
But like anything, we can go too far with plastic surgery.
And in hindsight, I might not do the rhinoplasty again.
My old nose was unique, but I do miss it sometimes.
But my nose is nothing compared to people who go the extreme length
to change their appearance.
And you probably are familiar with some of the stories of celebrities
who went too far,
or, you know someone personally
who has gone too far with plastic surgery.
But luckily, they represent a small minority of people.
However, when it comes to evaluating something,
we tend to rely on the stories we know.
It’s called the availability bias.
And so many people have developed
a misleading impression about what plastic surgery can do.
And fortunately, most doctors try to steer their patients in the right direction.
They act as an important check point.
And guiding our patients correctly and ethically
is one of the most important things
that we, as a provide in the aesthetic field, can do.
A colleague of mine always says:
“Your reputation as a plastic surgeon is not based on the people you treat,
but on the people you do not treat.“
In recent years, everything has changed.
Today, people don't need doctors to change their appearance.
They can do it themselves,
on social media with filters and now with AI.
And this is how Gen Z is presenting themselves to the world.
It has become so easy, you just have to press a button.
And studies have found that 90% of Gen Z is extremely active on social media.
Avatars and filters are a big part of that activity.
An avatar, quite simply, is an electronic image
that is representing yourself online in a game or on a social media platform
like Snapchat, Instagram, or TikTok.
A filter is a creative effect that you can add to an avatar or an image.
Have you ever taken a picture with your cell phone and made it
warmer, colder, brighter, darker to make it nicer?
If so, you used the filter.
But the thing is, young people today are using far more advanced filters
and AI on images and videos.
And with the rapid acceleration of social media, metaverse and AI
beauty filters are becoming more and more realistic.
So let’s have a look.
This is me unfiltered this morning.
And this is me with the filter turned on.
We can now create our own digital personality
with any appearance we want.
And so young people are heading out into the digital world
looking different than they do in the physical world.
They meet, they chat and their date on social media using their avatars.
And it’s so tempting.
You get attention and recognition, often much more than in real world.
Likes, followers, and flattering comments supply a constant dopamine rush.
And over time, the digital appearance no longer keeps up with a virtual appearance.
People are, in a very real sense, living a double life.
And this has led to a shift in the opposite direction,
from digital beauty back to physical beauty,
but not in a good way.
We now have young people coming to our clinic
and ask us to make them look like their avatars.
And they look perfectly fine as they are,
but they feel like they have digitally painted themselves into a corner.
And according to statistics
from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery,
there is a critical correlation between using filters
and the demand for cosmetic surgery.
It even has a name: Snapchat Dysmorphia.
What began with a simple push of a button
is now pushing people to change their appearance in the physical world.
And social media is becoming the fuel for unrestrained growth
in the cosmetic industry.
Since 2013, the number of cosmetic treatments has doubled
and people are becoming trapped in the pursuit the pursuit
of something they will never have: perfection.
That’s why in my clinic, we regularly say no to young people
who ask us to make them look like the avatars.
We talk openly with them about why it is not realistic
and in most cases, not even possible.
But this whole situation got me thinking.
Could there be anything positive about this trend of digital beautification?
And here is my hope:
if in the digital world,
everyone can look exactly the way they want,
perhaps the entire narrative around physical beauty will change.
If everyone looks beautiful, beauty will be ordinary.
And if beauty is ordinary,
maybe, just maybe,
we can start focusing on other more important things.
Because there’s so much more beneath the surface.
Our personalities.
Our relationships.
Our purpose.
Ourselves.
And if we could do that in the virtual world,
perhaps we could do it more often in the physical world.
I realize that that sounds idealistic
and I’m under no illusion how big the challenge is.
And I don’t claim to have all the answers.
But having worked in the aesthetic field for the last two decades,
I have learned one thing:
it’s totally okay to improve your appearance.
But if we only work on our physical appearance,
we will end up as good-looking, empty shells.
We also have to work on the more important aspects
of who we are as people.
If we could put the pursuit of physical beauty into proper perspective,
other, more important values could regain their rightful significance.
Values that result in a healthier and more fulfilling life.
But don’t forget to keep showering and stay fit.
(Laughter)
Thank you.