Plastic surgery may not mend a broken heart, but that is not stopping divorcees from trying. A new trend in the UK, which has also made its way to the states, has women whose husbands left, especially those whose husbands cheated, going under the knife to make their ex envious.
It makes a lot of sense. How many of us look like the woman our husbands married? Years of marriage, age and children do a number on our looks and if we divorce, the idea of dating again in our current states would be daunting. The woman who married my husband at 25 was much hotter than the woman I am now, seven years (and two kids) later.
Certainly, it is a sad trend that women feel the need to alter their appearance surgically to feel better about themselves, but it is one that makes sense and if it helps, more power to them!
Lisa, the woman interviewed by the Daily Mail, said that she feels worlds better about herself and the divorce after getting her nails fixed, tummy tucked, a little bit of botox and more to improve her overall appearance. She says:
I’m virtually unrecognizable from the woman who went through such a bitter divorce four years ago. With each procedure, I felt my confidence increasing. I have never felt so unattractive and hurt as I did the morning my husband sat me down and told me that he’d met someone else. But having this work done was as if I were putting a metaphorical two fingers up to the man who had all but destroyed my life.
Plastic surgery does something tangible and real that talking to friends, venting and seeing a therapist does not. We can all say it is shallow and vain to go under the knife and in some ways, it probably is. But feeling better about oneself truly is the best revenge and this is the most obvious, quickest way to do so.
It is called 'vengeance surgery' and some clinics in the US actually offer packages for recently divorced women to spend their settlement money sprucing up their bods. But is this just preying on the weak?
The truth is, it IS opportunistic on the part of plastic surgeons to use women' low self esteem to sell surgery. But our low self esteem is not their fault. A better plan for us women is to not let ourselves go in the first place. Just because we are married is no reason to let our bodies become saggy and sad. Why not find the time to work out and apply makeup and stay in the fashion know?
We can't control aging and we can't control other people, but we can control our own happiness. If you do not feel you are attractive enough for another man, then you probably don't really feel you are attractive enough for your husband and it shows. All of us women should be taking more time for ourselves in the first place so that we don't need plastic surgery if he leaves us.
Would you feel OK dating after a failed marriage?
Image via bethd821/Flickr