Human Nature Leads to Cosmetic Surgery

Zhang Wennan

Professor Song

December 7, 2015

Argumentative Writing

Human Nature Leads to Cosmetic Surgery

Speaking of cosmetic surgery, the majority of Chinese would say “It is utterly nonsense, those who underwent cosmetic surgery are definitely ridiculous” But I think, letting aside the medical risk, people’s desire to acquire beautiful faces through cosmetic surgery is well grounded because the fundamental motivation is human nature.

First of all, it is human nature to love beautiful faces. People undergo cosmetic surgeries to please their own eyes. "Attractiveness is not simply in the eye of the beholder, it is in the brain of the newborn infant right from the moment of birth and possibly prior to birth," Alan Slater, a developmental psychologist at the University of Exeter observed.  In his experiment, Slater and his group presented paired photographs to newborn infants, who ranged in age from one to seven days old.  All babies were in the still in hospital after birth.  It turned out that almost all the babies spent more time looking at the more attractive face than the less attractive one.  Also, preference to beautiful faces could be proved by countless traditional proverbs such as “Cheng Yu luo Yan” and “Bi Yue Xiu Hua”, which are complimentary remarks about women’s beautiful faces.  And if the preference was born with us, what is wrong with someone who chooses to get a more beautiful face?

Since loving beautiful faces is human nature, it is perfectly natural for some people to undergo cosmetic surgery simply for satisfying their own eyes.  But it’s also important to note that there are other people who modify their faces not only for visual enjoyment but for a better life, by pleasing others’ eyes.   For example, many patients said “I want to change my faces for a better job and a better boy friend.”  A study, conducted by Dr Lauren Rivera, from Northwestern University in the United States, has found that half of the employers would consider attractiveness as one of the most important considerations when hiring.  “Employers really want people who they will feel good around, who will be their friend and maybe even their romantic partner.  As a result, employers don't necessarily hire the most skilled candidates," says Lauren.  Since we have drew the conclusion that it is human nature to prefer beautiful faces, the result of the study could be easily understood.  Similarly, the same conclusion can account for people’s preference to beautiful faces when they are choosing boyfriends or girlfriends.  In these cases, some would argue that preference to beautiful faces is appearance discrimination to which we should say no.  But when human nature is here to stay, people’s choice to obey the unwritten rule is definitely well grounded