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Ask Ugly: my mother is pressuring me to get plastic surgery. How do I deal with imperfection?

Surgery isn’t a guarantee. Many who’ve gone under the knife to eliminate an ‘imperfection’ can attest to this

I’ve spoken to hundreds of girls and women over the course of my career, and most of them can trace their earliest experience of appearance anxiety back not to a cruel world, but a well-meaning family member. Most of what beauty culture calls flaws – pores, wrinkles, under-eye bags, cellulite, adipose tissue (fat) – are just basic human features. “I still developed body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) even after my procedure, which I carry to this day,” said one woman I interviewed, who asked to remain anonymous, about life after rhinoplasty.

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