Body Disorder in Pop Culture

In society, body dysmorphic disorder is a continuous problem. Body dysmorphic disorder also known as dysmorphophobia is a condition in which people become deeply concerned about some imagined or minor defect in their appearance. These concerns are usually focused on things like wrinkles, spots on the skin, excessive facial hair, swelling of the face, or misshapen nose, jaw, mouth, or eyebrows.

My first thought to this definition is that many people has this disorder, especially us females because the majority of the world is concerned with their appearance. Most people that I know, including myself has had either acne, long arms, small breast, a big forehead, thin lips, unmanageable hair, or some other kind of unsatisfactory feature that we absolutely hate. But looking further into the aspects of dysmorphophobia, I realized that this disorder is more serious than I had originally thought that is was.

A person with dysmorphophobia may avoid public places and some may go to any extent to rid them of the defect that they have through procedures like plastic surgery. Interestingly, I have a friend who has undergone surgery for a breast augmentation. In her case she felt inferior to other women, especially women who were well endowed. She would always say to me, “You’re so lucky, what do you eat, I wish I had your genes”. I hated when she said these things to me, one because she constantly stared at my breasts and two, because I hated the fact that she wasn’t happy with her outward appearance and always had to compare herself to others. Because of the “defect” she believed she had, she lacked major self esteem in everything else she did. When we would get dressed and prepare for an outing, many times she would not attend. She also hated dates in fear of the guy’s first impression of her. I would always tell her that not every guy drools over women with large breast because some men rather date ladies with brains and beauty. And fortunately enough, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. My words of encouragement seemed to justice. Why is it that so many people focus so much on beauty?