As you may or may not know, I am an ObGyn who also practices aesthetic medicine. We perform all kinds of procedures that tighten, get rid of fat, get rid of hair, tone, fill, contract muscles, etc. We like to post pictures of results to celebrate a patient’s success. Invariably, it seems that someone has to comment negatively that the procedures are not necessary or that they didn’t work or that the patient did not need them. I am never sure what the intent is of doing this? Is it telling the patient that they were not worth investing in themselves? Is it undermining their confidence? Is it telling them that they should not invest in their own sense of beauty? Or are they just trying to interfere with our business and our services? In any case, none of these reasons are healthy or positive and I really wish that people would refrain. All they are doing is causing potential hurt to the patient. I am just not sure that they understand that.

So, let’s talk a little bit about beauty. What does the word beauty mean? What does it mean to feel beautiful? The Oxford dictionary defines beauty as a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. It also describes beauty as a combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense. And finally, it states that beauty denotes something intended to make a woman more attractive.

I think that it is truly difficult to define beauty because it has both subjective and objective counterparts. The concept of beauty as a property of something is the objective part, but it also depends on the emotional response of the observer, whether it is the person themselves or an outside observer. You see, it’s both.

So, who is to say what is beautiful and what isn’t? I suppose that we all think of certain qualities that are essential to all beautiful things like proper proportion, harmony, radiance, pleasure, and value. But, even these qualities can be subjective. There are no absolute measurements for any of them. It’s similar to that one saying that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure . What is beautiful to one person may not be beautiful to someone else. It is ultimately up to the individual to decide. This also applies to someone’s decision to invest in themselves to feel more beautiful. So, the next time you think about making a negative comment, please don’t. All you are doing is hurting the patient’s feelings. Nothing more.

Dr. Katz