Chinese Youth Get Plastic Surgery

I plan to write a decent amount about young people who are entering the job market. American youth face a number of challenges, such as the decline of labor unions and a general unease about job security. Still, we should count ourselves lucky in some ways. According to an article in the Boston Globe, many Chinese women are undergoing plastic surgery to make themselves more attractive to future employers. It's pretty disturbing stuff.

"Parents who grew up under Mao Zedong's austere communist rule, when plastic surgery was unimagined and feminine beauty frowned upon, now encourage their kids to go under the knife with the hope that a prettier face may give them an edge.

"It's an economic age of beauty," said Liu. "A good-looking girl earns 10 percent more than others."

EverCare performed over 1,000 operations last year. Around 95 percent of the patients were women and over 20 percent were aged under 25. Like cars and mobile phones, plastic surgery is no longer considered a luxury, Liu said.

"It has become a need for ordinary people," he said."

There is something about this that makes me slightly sick. China's hyper-development seems to have spawned some of the worst manifestations of consumer capitalism. A society where young people are forced to go under the knife to get a good job is not one where I would want to live. I understand that conservatives would call these surgeries completely rational, but maybe it just shows the limitations of free markets improving the basic happiness of people in any given country.