Don’t cut me, I’m already pretty

What is sexy?

Victoria’s Secret poses this question while their models with unnatural,… What is sexy?

Victoria’s Secret poses this question while their models with unnatural, ice-blue eyes and jet-black hair parade in the newest lingerie like it isn’t unusual to be half-naked with fake wings on your back. Of course, we know this doesn’t portray real life. Most people will never have those body dimensions, intensive make-up work or be comfortable strutting around in a bra, panties and high heels. It’s just another Victoria’s Secret ad, and that’s all that stays with us, especially since the fashion show was cancelled. Right?

Not lately. On television nowadays, plastic surgery seems to be the new pink, and not just for Hollywood’s hottest celebrities. Now there are plastic surgery shows for everyone.

A couple of years ago, I remember spending my summer mornings watching “A Personal Story” on TLC. It was a modest show that followed one person’s journey as he or she made the decision to get plastic surgery. They were just the basic procedures — a boob job, a nose job, a tummy tuck as a reward for losing massive amounts of weight. In the end, the patients were happy with their new body parts and chock-full of new self-esteem.

If “A Personal Story” was the McDonald’s Happy Meal of shows about plastic surgery, the reality shows on television today that center on this fad are super-sized.

MTV had an impressive “True Life” episode about breast enlargements and reductions, completely uncensored, giving viewers more nipple shots than the dozens of replays of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident. It was about the struggle that went with the decision to get plastic surgery, the emotional commitment and the real danger of going under the knife.

Now MTV has a new show called “I Want a Famous Face” which centers on plastic surgery in order to look like celebrities, a new phenomenon MTV uncovered. These people want to look like Kate Winslet, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Pamela Anderson — and what’s faster than having major surgery? MTV shows the graphic slicing and dicing that comes with it, although now the nipples are triple pixilated.

The girl who wants to be like Pamela Anderson had her boobs done so large that even Playboy hesitated to hire her because they looked unnatural on her small frame. However, MTV doesn’t address the larger issue. What makes people so deluded and infatuated with celebrities that they’ll change their bodies just to be one step closer?

But the problem is that they are not the only ones. Plenty of people in America let fame and airbrushing define their standards of beauty. Now that low-carb weight loss is in style, food commercials have added how few carbohydrates their products have to be more enticing to customers. Subway has a whole menu created around the latest craze, and Jared doesn’t even receive a mention.

The quest for the perfect body — defined face, big boobs, flat stomach, small waist, shapely butt, small thighs — is further perpetuated by extreme makeover shows and Simon on “American Idol” telling the contestants they sing well, but they need to lose weight.

One show that capitalizes on the insecurities of most American women is the new Fox reality show “The Swan.” Out of the thousands who auditioned, 17 lucky ladies were considered the ugliest and asked to participate on the show. Each week, two of them will go head to head — and under the knife — as a team of cosmetic surgeons, a dentist, a fitness trainer, a therapist and life coach discuss what makes the woman need their expertise so badly.

The most interesting part of the show isn’t the plastic surgery. You can see that anywhere. It’s the low self-esteem of the contestants. No wonder other people think the contestants aren’t good-looking when it’s written all over their face that they believe the same thing. That’s a larger issue than chin liposuction. Fox does have a therapist and a life coach to help the contestants with their mental beauty. But in the end, every reality show is a contest.

After the dramatic transformations through plastic surgery, dental work, visits to the dermatologist and working out with a physical trainer every day to drop the weight, one girl is deemed less pretty than the other and rejected once again. The winner goes on to compete in their beauty pageant where there will only be one winner. So the cycle continues, and it seems even harder to achieve that body or look that’ll suddenly make life wonderful.

Rarely are people immune to these messages, no matter how much we are disgusted or bewildered by the lengths people will go to achieve someone else’s definition of beautiful. Even while watching “The Swan,” I examined myself in the mirror and wondered if I needed some face liposuction to go with the thighs. I don’t think I’ll be applying for the show any time soon though. Wanting to lose some weight, wear make-up that Halle Berry advertises, lift weights to increase bicep size — those are normal desires that everyone has, whether they get around to it or not. But this growing obsession with the perfect body that makes plastic surgery seem as casual as a haircut is worrisome. Besides, even haircuts can be dramatic.

It’s hard not to want to have the fabulous life that VH1 tells us our favorite celebrities have or the knockout body that’ll have Justin Timberlake knocking on the door. Even after the breast implants and losing 30 pounds while shouting “TRIMSPA, baby!” the truth is that Justin probably still won’t come around. Maybe that’s just my fantasy. Still the decision to do any of these things has to be about you.

The most effective makeover is to have the kind of confidence and self-esteem that’ll get you through the day without going crazy. After that, dealing with everything else seems a little easier.