In the past 20 years, rates of plastic surgery in the United States have increased by over 200 percent according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Last year, there were 17.5 million plastic surgery procedures done within the United States, and 228,797 were on teenagers.

Within our community, there is a handful of students and numerous parents who have these procedures every year. These members of our community have altered parts of their bodies from noses to breasts and other procedures that are even more invasive. Even though I am aware of multiple females in our community who have undergone plastic surgery, I am not aware of any males within our community who have undergone such procedures. For all I know there are, but I wonder if these males feel embarrassed to admit to their surgeries.

Historically, plastic surgery is a field of male surgeons and female patients. However, in the past years, more and more men have undergone such procedures. In the past year alone 1.2 million of the plastic surgery patients nationwide were performed on men.

Feeling the need to change your appearance in such a permanent way often stems from outside pressures to look a certain way. People are often told a body is supposed to look a certain way, and with these pressures and images, many are often pressured to change their appearance—from clothing to hair to body shape. However, teens are now choosing to undergo serious and intrusive procedures to fit the current image of beauty.

However, we have to keep in mind there are also medical reasons people get these surgeries. Not every situation in which one gets plastic surgery is in order to better their appearance.

While people at Parker have had these surgeries for medical reasons such as a broken nose, many people get these surgeries in order to “improve” their appearance.

There is a constant pressure to look good or look how the models on your Instagram feed do. Whether it’s losing weight or changing the way they dress, teenagers have been finding ways to fit the standard for a long time. However, it has gotten to the point where women feel the need to forever change their bodies in order to look good. I have had multiple conversations with my friends where they have listed off not only their flaws but the different surgeries they want to fix their problems.

I am definitely guilty of not feeling adequate or listing off my flaws, but I find it sad that our peers feel the need to undergo serious procedures in order to please themselves and others.

I have often felt the pressure of changing myself to please others, physically or within the way I act, I find it sad some feel the need to permanently change their bodies solely in order to please others.