A growing Chinese willingness to go under the knife for
cosmetic purposes cuts to core questions about the changing national psyche.
Many are facing the ugly side of beauty's pursuit - addiction, disfigurement
and self-esteem problems.
The public hasn't seen the face of the woman who's perhaps
China's most famous cosmetic surgery recipient. That's because Pink Baby wears
a surgical mask when she appears on TV - not only to protect her identity but
also because she claims to have been disfigured by more than 200 plastic
surgeries since age 16. The 31-year-old Jiangsu province native has become the
public (although unseen) face of an increase in botched cosmetic procedures and
plastic surgery addiction in China, as modernity is reshaping the body of
traditional beliefs opposing plastic surgery. More people are going under the
knife for cosmetic purposes, as entertainment and celebrity obsession have
carved a new national psyche, slicing through long-held conceptions against
modifying one's body because it's a shrine to one's parents.