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Jane Fonda and Sally Field recently made a pact: no more cosmetic surgery. Each actress wants to be a new, honest face for aging gracefully.
But outside the world of Academy Award winners, what do everyday Christian women think of cosmetic surgery? Some Kansas City women—Cherolyn Conway, Julia Lloyd, Pam Morgan, Jan Sykes, and Sally Whit-taker—tackle this controversial question.
Meet our roundtable participants
Under what circumstances should or shouldn't a woman have cosmetic surgery?
Julia: Cosmetic surgery makes sense in extreme cases, perhaps if a person needs it to correct excessive scarring from a fire, but not if a woman wants it simply to feed her vanity.
Pam: After enduring eight plastic surgeries to repair my face, arm, and shoulder following a car accident, I can't imagine why anyone would go through such a surgical nightmare voluntarily. There are many risks: The surgery might not yield the desired result, it might cause permanent discomfort, or it might even pose future health problems. If a woman wants surgery to find self-worth, she's looking in the wrong place.
Except in cases of physical necessity like mine, the only justifiable surgery is reconstruction after a mastectomy. However, if a husband really wants his wife to have a breast augmentation and it's not overdone, is determined safe, and pleases him … well, maybe. From my reading about submission in Ephesians, I think the command that the husband love his wife as Christ loved the church requires that he also consider his wife's health, safety, and comfort.
Julia: You can take submission too far. Changing your body or personality or anything that makes you unique is not submission.
Jan: We all do things to look prettier, even just wear- ing makeup, so we should quit the pious "I'd never be so vain" argument. Vanity in women is a given—don't tell me you have only one pair of shoes. But women fool themselves if they think surgery will fix anything other than their looks; it won't fix their life.
Cherolyn: If you have the power to improve yourself and your self-worth, go for it. But consider several things: Can you afford elective surgery? Have you thoroughly checked out your surgeon? What are you trying to accomplish?
The types of cosmetic procedures and reasons for "needing" them vary. My daughter was born with a large facial birthmark that posed a serious cancer threat and, I feared, a threat to her self-esteem. I was willing to go to any financial length to take care of this problem. So, by 15, she's had 17 surgeries. They've been well worth the time and money.
I also nursed my mother through several cosmetic procedures, including a face-lift that greatly improved her self-worth. And years ago I had permanent eyeliner, lip liner, and eyebrows tattooed because I was extremely allergic to regular makeup.
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