Body_Image_&_Botox

Body Image & Botox Standards of Beauty Western society has an intense obsession with body image. Western society demands that individuals preserve a thin figure, disguise the aging process, and advertise their economic success in their wardrobe. Such pressures draw attention away from one’s physical reality, and places emphasis on their social reality. Mike Weiss, a writer for The San Francisco Chronicle investigated the increasing demand for Botox in the cosmetic industry. Botox is the same toxin that is found in food poison. When injected into the skin, the toxin paralyzes muscle function by blocking chemical messages sent from nerve cells. The paralyzed muscles reduce the appearance of fine lines. In a society where standards of body image are so critical, such toxins offer individuals great promise. Weiss wrote “ It is a distinctively American irony that now, just when fear of biological warfare is at its scariest, the same microbe that U.S. Army researchers developed to cause botulism is a popular cosmetic” . The article explained that Dr. Alan Scott, “[decades earlier] had turned a deadly poison into a miracle drug for obscure but devastating eye diseases”. In 2002, before it was even approved by the society, body, botox, image, weiss, injections, cosmetic, western, individuals, dr, toxic, parents, million, children, turned, toxin, standards, social, scott, same, said, sad, received, reality, preservation, poison, people, paralyzed, over, oscars, one’s, obsession, muscles, intense, industry