Bridalplasty

Something really embarrassing about me is that I recently started watching "Bridalplasty" from my Netflix's Watch Instantly. A lot of reality television shows send out horrible messages to viewers but this one tops them all. The girls who are participating in this competition are fighting for the chance to get plastic surgery and a perfect wedding. Whoever wins will walk down the aisle and expose their brand new face and body to their husband for the first time. A lot of drama and cattiness goes on in the house and it's definitely instigated by the producers. The girls have to vote other girls out in front of their faces; alliances are made; insults are thrown at each other; backstabbing is done; pretty much every stereotype about a girl is apparent on this show.

The whole concept of girls being rewarded with plastic surgery completely baffles me. After they see girls come back from surgery with their face intensely bruised, their body in so much pain that they're brought in with a wheelchair, drugged and in tears, the other girls are insanely jealous instead of mortified that they were willing for that to happen to them. It really exemplifies the length girls will go to to look flawless and the pressure they have from society. Kilbourne says that if women aren't flawless it's because they didn't "try hard enough." She says that nothing is wrong with wanting to be attractive and sexy but it becomes bad when that's all a girl cares about and forgets about the importance of inner beauty qualities. And that's exactly what the women on this show do. They aren't embarrassed to show their nasty side all for the sake of winning some plastic surgery. The few women on the show that are depicted as kind and selfless are quickly voted off the show for being seen as a threat.

In the first episode, the girls are exposed to the videos of them in the doctor's office in front of all the other girls. Their "flaws" and changes they want are crossed off with a black, permanent marker. They each have long lists of everything they want fixed. This goes with Kilbourne's statement about beer advertisements with "ugly" girls: If you're not conventionally beautiful, you're an object of ridicule and contempt." Many people say that ads have no effect on them but where are these girls getting their ideas of what beauty is? One girl gets a boob job and she mentions that her boyfriend will be so happy. Big breasts are idiolized in Western society and a lot of girls want them. The male doctor on the show completely condones this and even though he makes a big speech about each girl already being beautiful he also still says things like, "I'm really excited to fix your nose because that's the only not so cute part of your face." It's just really sad that girls are letting men define their beauty and they're not even aware of it.