Cosmetic Surgery vs. Body Modification

I would define cosmetic surgery as a decision someone makes to change something about themselves because they feel it must be done. Either they feel that something is inadequate in their own mind or standards or it is something that is impeding their everyday life. i would say that cosmetic surgery has different levels of intensity depending on how enthusiastic the person is on what they wish to change. Often times, it is a decision made by society and the standards that we have that make people want to change their looks. Body Modification I think is a little more intense because there is a more serious aspect in many cases. Body modification to me menas somehting more unnatural like lip rings, tattoos, or ear hoops. I feel body modification has a different meaning and purpose than cosmetic surgery because it is reconstuctive versu cosmetic changes. I think the overlying difference is the appearence of natural vs. something manmade.

Importance of Hair

After further considering the interview with Neal Lester, he raised some very good points about hair that I had never really considered. He mentioned how a hair cut or hair style could be the defining factor in a situation like a job interview or even when you already have a job. Why does someones hair have to be a certain way for them to conduct their job? It is preposterous that someone could not perform their job because their hair was a different color or braided a different way. I can understand a situation where someone may have been working with machinery and long hair could be a concerning factor but that is not what Lester was talking about. He was talking about how one's hairstyle says more about who they are then the words that they say. He also talked about the concept of beauty being racialized in specific cases with the hair. He was saying how straightened hair in particular is seen as a white woman's hair style and that in using chemicals and artificial sources to straighten hair, girls are becoming less and less who they were meant to be. Lester mentioned how there were so many stereotypes and associations made based simply on one's hair that our society has become so consumed with different hair styles. With personal examples using his own daughter, Lester illustrated how society forces people, especially the youth, to change the way their hair is simply to look like an ideal that is not real or necessary.

Role of Hair

In listening to the interview with Neal Lester and reading the passages regarding the importance of hair, I discovered a new meaning to hair. I always thought that hair was nothing important, partly because I never liked my own hair. It was certainly something that I noticed as a child but it was never anything that I thought was very important. Growing up, I was not very picky about my hair cuts and I normally got a straight up bowl but all the way through elementary school. I remember growing up and having my brother grow his hair out really long. He and my neighbor both did it together and many of them often referred to them as the Hansen brothers who, at the time, has copyrighted to long blonde hair style. So i knew growing up how quickly hair could lead people to make assumptions because everywhere I went with my brother it was the first thing that people would say to him. I never wanted to have my hair so recognizable that it was the one thing that people recognized me by. I finally moved on past the bowl cut and went to a more typical, short hair cut. It was an interesting time for me because I partly wanted to have something unique about my hair but I did not want it to be excessive like my brothers. It was at this time that i realized just how important hair is and the power it has on how we are seen.