Perfection: Webster's dictionary defines it as the quality or condition of being without flaw. Perfection is more of an ideal rather than a reality, yet people try to get as close as they can. A recent preoccupation of America's is trying to achieve physical perfection through cosmetic surgery. In the past decade, the popularity of cosmetic surgery has risen at an alarming rate. Americans are now becoming obsessed with achieving perfection through cosmetic surgery. In America, surgery is becoming a popular solution to many insecurities as well as deformities. Several topics are important to understand, such as the beginnings of cosmetic surgery, pros and cons of cosmetic surgery, the growing obsession and the physical and emotional effects of the growing obsession on society.

Cosmetic surgery as it is known today first came about in the early twentieth century. Books dated as early as 1932 describe procedures done and provide...