Plastic Surgery Boom

Vocabulary

Video: Cosmetic Surgery

Video

Transcript

Bi Ru is a little bit stressed: she’s traveled more than a thousand kilometers to meet with Dr. Qiao Song, a renowned plastic surgeon. Doctors at another hospital have already operated on her chin. And now she wants to perfect her job.

Bi Ru, Cosmetic Surgery Patient: “If I make myself beautiful, then my bosses will like me,” she says.

Like Bi Ru, thousands of Chinese people resort to cosmetic surgery each year, and more than three million procedures were carried out in 2009.

Dr. Qiao Song, Pastic Surgeon: “On average, I see ten patients a day, and in general, the majority are young. In recent years, especially on school holidays, 18 up to 23 year-olds make up sixty to seventy percent (60% to 70%) of the patients.”

People going under the knife are getting younger and younger because nowadays, plastic surgery helps people find work.

The latest trend is to have the chin made more pointed. Then there’s the nose, the stomach, the lips, and double eye lids — now a routine operation.

Zuo Han Sen is having laser treatment for his acne, an unspectacular surgery which is nonetheless, indispensable.

Zuo Han Sen, Patient with Acne: “This phenomenon is evident in certain sectors,” he says. “For example in China, when you send in a CV, you attach a photo. The CV must have a photo.”

The price of operations varies. The chin for example is charged at $2,600. And it’s often the parents who pay the bill.

Guo Zhaolian, Psychologist: “There’s a cultural reason. The Chinese judge people by their physical appearance. It’s important.

Like we say, ‘Buddha needs to be fat; people need to wear beautiful clothes’. In the past one had to be well dressed. Now there are other means to looking beautiful.”

It’s a cultural phenomenon which is generating more than $2 billion a year. According to the Ministry of Health, in 2009, more than fifty thousand clinics opened in China.

But with more than twenty-thousand (20,000) surgical accidents recorded each year, it also attracts its fair share of charlatans.

Questions

1%. “Bi Ru is a little bit stressed.” Why is she stressed? Why does she feel this way?

3%. She wants to be beautiful (only) so she can be very popular and find a boyfriend. Is this right or wrong?

10%. Are most patients rich, middle-aged, celebrity women?

20%. What parts of the body do people want to alter (change)?

25%. “In China, when you send in a CV, you attach a photo. The CV must have a photo.” What does this mean? What does this imply?

33%. Chinese society is completely meritocratic. Is this entirely true, mostly true, yes and no, in the middle, it depends, largely false or totally false??

47%. “Like we say, ‘Buddha needs to be fat.'” What does this mean or imply? In China, what do young people feel they need to do? What should they do?

50%. In China, is plastic surgery becoming more common, less common, or remaining the same? Is this tend entirely positive?
 
 
 
66%. Have any of your friends, classmates or colleagues gone under the knife? Do you know anyone who has had plastic surgery?

75%. How common or popular is cosmetic surgery in your city? What are some common procedures?

82%. What kind of people undergo plastic surgery? How do men and women want to look? What do they want to look like?

90%. Applicants must attach a photo with their CV (resume) in my country. True or false? What do you think about this? How important is physical appearance in your society or culture?

99.9%. Is cosmetic surgery becoming more common, is it staying the same, or is it becoming less popular?

100%. What will happen in the future?

110%. People should forgo cosmetic surgery and just accept and appreciate who they are and how they look. What do you think?