Why Men are becoming Women (and vice versa)…

All over the world, the number of men undergoing plastic surgery to improve their image is growing on an unprecedented scale. In the UK and US especially, men are quickly closing the gap on females, who until recently received over 90% of cosmetic surgery procedures each year.


The reason for this shift is simple: men are becoming women, whilst women are becoming men. In a gradual gender personality shift beginning with the advent of mass-media (television) influence, the line between male and female is blurring.


The change has been a long time coming, but now, across all industries, the products and services traditionally thought of as ‘for women’, or ‘for men’, in the most part, are now switching places.. Sales in make-up, cosmetics and styling products are booming from increased male custom. Barber shops are dying whilst all-male hair salons are springing up in their place. In contrast, women’s football is on the up and the number of women purchasing a tool belt and 35mm chisel is also increasing.


Is this a good or bad thing? Opinions are divided on this one, with two major schools of thought. Lee May, the popular modern philosopher sees it as a good thing.

"We are now becoming ourselves, with the male and female halves of our souls combining to create fuller, more real human beings."

The second camp however, is a little more sceptical, seeing men as slowly turning into sissies, and

"women [are] becoming butch lesbian types with stubbly chins and a scale tattoo of a wheelying Harley Davidson complete with flaming exhaust hurtling over their shoulder blades."

says Graham Proud, the controversial Australian writer. Rather than the lines between us blurring, he sees our roles as swapping over.


Whether there is any ground to these contrasting opinions is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain – the pharmaceutical and cosmetic surgery industries are getting richer by the day as the queue of men and women lining up outside the clinics as they wait for their liposuction is getting ever longer.

Is Cosmetic Surgery for you?

If you want cosmetic surgery you need to make sure it is what you really want. Only you can make this type of decisioin, therefore you should not accept advice from anyone expect professional advice about the exact type of procedure you require.

Successful surgery procedure is all about research. Consult great websites such as the Cosmetic Surgery Blog and the BAPS which both offer a wealth of information from both the commercial and official sides of the industry.

When getting in touch with a surgery, ensure they are associated with trustworthy healthcare institutions such as the Royal College of Surgeons. Another important consideration is the location of the surgeon. Landauer, for instance, have UK surgeries in almost all areas of Britain. This is critical if you want the whole procedure to remain as stress-free as possible.

The most important advice is to simply take your time, read, learn, ask questions and make sure it is the right thing for you. Cosmetic surgery can be the best or worst thing that ever happens to you and it is crucial that you do it for the right reasons.

Huge rise in cosmetic surgery procedures in 2006

Liposuction – up 90%. Eyelid surgery – up 48%. Abdominoplasty – up 47%. The UK cosmetic surgery market is booming and is not expected to slow down in 2007. On the contrary, we British are becoming more image-conscious by the day as try to imitate the faces and bodies of our favourite celebrities.

With almost 30,000 procedures carried out last year, at top cosmetic surgeons such as Landauer Cosmetic Surgery and Transform, business is booming.

Here are some of the stats from the BAAPS:

Liposuction: 3,986 – up 90%
Brow lifts 868 – up 50%
Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery): 5,065 – up 48%
Abdominoplasty: 2,743 – up 47%
Face/Neck Lift: 3,281 – up 44%
Otoplasty (ear correction): 943 – down 20%
Breast Reduction: 3,219 – up 19%
Rhinoplasty: 2,678 – up 18%
Breast augmentation: 6,156 – up 9% from last year

Win a day in surgery!

With cosmetic surgery becoming ever more popular, and practices ever more competitive, surgeries are pursuing increasingly aggressive marketing tactics to win customers. One surgery in Prague is holding a prize draw, with plastic surgery procedures as the prizes. This kind of marketing strategy has raised eyebrows at the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), who have condemned such behaviour.

The BAAPS president Douglas McGeorge said he was ‘appalled at this new scheme but unfortunately not surprised’. The assimilation of sales and marketing into the medical industry business model has been a long-standing success looking at, for example, the pharmaceuticals industry. When similar methods of increasing custom are employed in the cosmetic surgery industry, however, there has been a backlash from ethics watchdogs that see it as a serious conflict with the traditional doctor – patient relationship.

For more information on cosmetic surgery visit these resources:

UK Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic Surgery

Breast Enlargement

Cosmetic Surgery in the UK

In 2006, over 700,000 cosmetic procedures were carried out in the UK. This represents a 40% rise on 2005 and shows that cosmetic surgery (breast enlargements, obesity surgery etc.) is becoming ever more popular.

Why do people come to the UK? Because over 50% of the world's top surgeons work here, and the satisfaction of customers is higher than anywhere in the world.

According to the BAAPS, the current leading cosmetic surgery is Landauer, based in Lancashire.