There has never been a time in human history where people haven’t wanted to improve themselves, to dominate others, and to push themselves to become as powerful, as strong command as capable as humanly possible – no matter what.
At the same time, we very much live in a modern world that is driven by social media and reality TV programs that hold up tiny little snapshots of people’s lives while promoting them as their “everyday normal”, all while nothing could be further from the truth.
This puts a considerable amount of pressure on your Average Joes and Janes to chase perfection, looking to create a daily life that is everything those Instagram screenshots represent – even while we logically understand that they are doctored, staged, and anything but reality.
The parade of perfectionism that we are inundated with on a daily basis as transforms expectations, standards, and norms in a way that most people never would have thought possible. It is getting so out of hand that gets causing people to do some pretty incredible things – sometimes dangerous things – to create the kind of perfection they will never be able to realize.
Researchers out of the SISU Aesthetic Clinic report that there is been a 200% increase in the demand for lip fillers (a cosmetic surgery procedure) following the latest iteration of the reality TV show Love Island. Other sources report similar numbers across the country (and across the world) coinciding with these major reality TV/social media events, with some reporting that there’s been an overall 30% increase in demand for cosmetic surgery procedures in just the last 30 years.
Interestingly enough, it’s not only women that are interested in this pursuit for perfection through cosmetic surgery the way it used to be in the past. That same aesthetic clinic we highlighted above reports that a full 35% of ALL their bookings for Botox procedures are coming from men – a dramatic increase from just five short years ago.
Men are also turning to chemical cocktails and performance-enhancing drugs to help them chase perfection at greater rates, too. Many of them are willing to sacrifice their short and long-term health to look and feel fantastic with no more accurate portrayal of this chase down the sad story of Gary Whitaker out of England.
Mr. Whitaker was an amateur bodybuilder that decided to dive headfirst into the world of anabolic steroids to improve his overall physique, taking higher and higher dosages of these performance-enhancing drugs over a 15 year stretch of time – and only stopping when both of his kidneys quite literally failed.
Incredibly enough, Mr. Whitaker reports that even though his kidneys had failed in his life was quite literally in jeopardy because of his steroid use he didn’t regret the decision to do so. He still promotes anabolic steroids for those looking to gain an edge and advantage in competition, recommends them to amateur bodybuilders and those that want to feel and look younger, and says that if you take them in small dosages and have regular blood tests you should be able to avoid having to worry about the same serious health side effects he did.
It should be stated that Mr. Whitaker is not and has never been a medical professional.
