I have always thought that plastic surgery for purely vain purposes wasn't right. Why we cannot age gracefully and live a full life with the body we've got is beyond me.
But I’ve never had a big honkin' nose, either.
Jeremy, a mate of mine who recently visited the Apple Isle from the UK, used to have a huge nose. And by huge, I mean massive. Like the mole on Fred Savage's face in Austin Powers: Goldmember, this thing was hard for anyone not to notice. It was the dominant feature of his face. And the dominant feature of all his insecurities.
Jeremy had the most wonderful coming out. His mother cried with joy when he told her he was gay. She's still his closest friend in the world and it's not unknown for her to accompany him on the occasional night out in his native Cardiff. But coming out is a very different thing to being out. And being out on the scene was difficult for a nice guy... especially since nobody took the time to find out who the nice guy was behind that nose.
This led to him being shy, depressed, medicated and a virtual hermit. Gaydar was his one outlet, but the guys he met through there were happy to play... but none of them wanted a boyfriend with a huge nose.
Jeremy ended 2007 depressed and lonely. He dropped in to his doctor to have his anti-depressant prescription renewed and finally popped the question he'd been afraid to ask for over 10 years of seeing this doctor. He asked if he could have a referral to a plastic surgeon.
And the doctor gave him the referral right away. Two weeks later, Jeremy had a new nose. Naturally it took a while to heal. but six weeks later, the boy from Cardiff sat down and made plans for 2008.
Number 1: Go out on the town with some friends from work.
Number 2: Book a holiday to Australia
Number 3: Make some new friends on the Internet in Australia
Number 4: Line-up some Booty Calls in Australia
One month later he was in Australia. The shy, lonely, depressed guy who had never been lucky in love (or sex, for that matter) landed in Sydney, checked into a hotel and got changed to go out on the town where he preceded to chat to complete strangers, snog complete strangers and go home with the hottest guy he had ever seen.
Was it his new nose? No. It was the lack of his old nose. And it's not because his old nose was all that bad... it's because the one thing that seemed to hold him back was gone. There is no excuse for retreating from the world when you remove the one thing blocking you from broadening your horizons.
Like so many things that I am quick to judge, plastic surgery appears to be one of those things that get bad press. Because it is “so bad” that Nicole Kidman has had facelifts. Because it is “so bad” that Joan Rivers’ face is wound so tight that she can't move most of it.
What if a couple of thousand dollars could change that one thing that you are most self-conscious about? In Jeremy's case, it was a decision between years of psychiatry or a few weeks of pain.
He chose the quicker option and it has worked.
He's not in Tasmanian any more, but I believe that he might be in Sydney again. If so, you'll find him pretty easily. He's the guy who's chatting to everyone, because now he feels like he can.
I have always thought that plastic surgery for purely vain purposes wasn't right. Why we cannot age gracefully and live a full life with the body we've got is beyond me.
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