Image source @ Visual China
Text | Brain polar body
"Soldiers die for confidants, women for pleasing themselves" - this sentence shows the long-term expectations of different genders: men should have a career, and women should focus on love and appearance.
Of course, a lot has changed now. Women say "it's really good to make money", while men start to be "anxious about appearance".
In an article published in Singapore's Straits Times on August 29, more and more men in China are opting for double eyelids, pointed chins and thicker hair (through plastic surgery).
According to data from consulting firms and medical beauty institutions, 3 out of every 10 people undergoing plastic surgery in China last year were men, compared with only 1 in 10 in 2019. In 2019, the average cost of medical cosmetology by men was 7,025 yuan, which was 2.75 times that of women (2,551 yuan).
Achieving "perfection" through plastic surgery, which was originally a popular self-transformation among women, why has it become the choice of many men? What changes will the addition of the male group bring to the plastic surgery industry?
<h2>Men start plastic surgery, what items will bring fire? </h2>
In general, cosmetic surgery techniques are mainly concentrated in three types: open surgery, foreign body injection, and fat grafting.
The purpose of plastic surgery is divided into two types: one is "charcoal in the snow", which is aimed at repairing physical trauma, such as burns and deformities caused by congenital body surface problems or accidental injuries. The other is the "icing on the cake", hoping to transform the appearance into a more mainstream aesthetic standard through medical means.
However, the physiological situation is different, the social and cultural expectations for the appearance of men and women are also different, and the plastic surgery programs chosen by men are naturally different from those of women.
For example, liposuction surgery favored by women has not yet become mainstream among men, on the one hand, because men are physiologically more likely to obtain lower body fat rates through exercise and fitness. In addition, society has a higher tolerance for men's figure, as long as it is not too obese to affect health, most of them do not need to "desperately take risks".
For example, the same star, the variety show "Chase the Light!" The body management of male artists in "Brother" is generally not as strict as that of female artists in "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves".
So, where are the men all going?
1. Hair transplantation.
There are reports that almost all women's plastic surgery programs have been tried by men, and the most done of them is hair transplantation and cutting off eye bags. Men are more likely and earlier to suffer from hair loss than women.
According to a survey by the National Health Commission, about 164 million men in China have hair loss problems, accounting for more than 65% of the groups deeply affected by hair loss problems. Androgen-induced hair loss cannot be cured, because it is impossible to fundamentally remove androgen secretion.
In this case, what "duangduang" shampoo and hair care products are not good, can only turn to hair transplantation technology.
2. Rejuvenation.
Cutting off eye bags, also a high-frequency item of male plastic surgery. This group is mainly middle-aged men around 40 years old, in order to look younger, so as not to lose their jobs due to old age, they will choose eyelid bags, wrinkle removal, crow's feet and other youthful items.
3. Defect beautification.
Rhinoplasty, double eyelids, small jaw and other surgery, in addition to some people because of accidents and need plastic surgery, in recent years, there are many young men who hope to improve their external appearance through surgery, and even appeared to be too late awl chin.
4. Andrology.
Just as women have private plastic surgery, men also have the need for cosmetic surgery of hidden reproductive organs. Previously, there were media reports that 10% of men in some large cities had undergone reproductive plastic surgery. There are even projects to "facelift" sperm, trying to treat male infertility by modifying sperm quality and quantity.
About women's "appearance anxiety", is that women hope to approach the mainstream aesthetic orientation of men through perfect transformation, so most of women's plastic surgery programs are also convergent, and the famous Korean miss selection is played by netizens because the whole is too similar.
But the traditional gender standard, men are responsible for earning money to support the family, and success is the standard. How come there is a just need for plastic surgery?
<h2>Who's making the "perfect man"? </h2>
As the cultural critic Simmel said, "Things don't become popular after they are produced, things are made for the sake of popularity." This sentence is also appropriate in the plastic surgery industry.
It is worth mentioning that the men who choose plastic surgery are not all performing arts practitioners who eat by the face, but many of them are politicians, students, ordinary company employees and so on. Since it is not a choice of the heart, what factors are the male body being shaped by?
In a study of Chinese body self, after surveying 381 participants (136 plastic surgerists and 245 non-formal plastic surgery patients), it was found that plastic surgery patients often felt more interpersonal pressure, media pressure, higher social preferences, and more fear of negative evaluation of appearance.
The pressure, fear and anxiety from appearance are slowly being felt by men. Mainly from three aspects:
First, the workplace is more competitive.
Every year is the "most difficult graduation season", the total scale of 2021 national ordinary college graduates is 9.09 million, a new high, graduates want to stand out when they are looking for a job, and their handsome appearance is also counted into the plus. In singaporean media reports, some men claim that their job prospects have improved due to plastic surgery.
Men who are already in the workplace, facing the trend of younger teams, also "have to roll up". Take the male-led government work, ten years ago, many officials had changed their age and rejuvenated through plastic surgery because of age anxiety and appearance anxiety.
Italian President Berlusconi, who also underwent a four-hour plastic surgery, wore tape on his face to attend the meeting and complained that he had "sacrificed too much for the country."
This is still true in areas where traditional men dominate and where men set standards, not to mention those that require women's consumption and women's purchasing power?
When "male color" becomes a consumer product, there will naturally be male practitioners willing to make corresponding goods. The entertainment industry has borne the brunt of the problem, becoming a high incidence of male plastic surgery.
According to Xinhuanet's survey of career willingness, more than half of the most desirable occupations after 95 are anchors and Internet celebrities. And these industries are typical of the "face value economy", fan size and loyalty more directly affect the follow-up business potential and liquidity, the level of value has become the key to whether you can absorb powder. It's no wonder that some male models have said that plastic surgery is about making every photo "worth printing."
In addition, the competition in the marriage market has become more intense.
After the release of the main data results of the Seventh National Census, the sex ratio of the total population is 105.07, and there are 34.9 million more men than women. The proportion of young men and women of marriageable age is more unbalanced, coupled with the rise of celibacy and non-marriage, making it more difficult for men to find a marriage partner. Therefore, there are also many men who hope to stand out in the marriage market through plastic surgery.
Of course, compared with the size of the female plastic surgery market, male plastic surgery is still only a small lotus to show its sharp corners. Therefore, the promotion of plastic surgery institutions cannot be ignored.
In recent years, many women have begun to refuse to be influenced by "takeaway anxiety", trying to break stereotypes and accept flawed bodies and appearances. The lingerie brand "Victoria's Secret", which is known for creating "sexy angels" and supermodel catwalks, has begun to invite the founder of plus-size women's clothing to act as brand ambassadors.
Women try to break the shackles, and naturally let the plastic surgery market feel a little chilly. It is not surprising that the emerging male market is pre-laid out, and some mercenary plastic surgery institutions try to stimulate men's consumer demand and attract customers with exaggerated publicity.
It may be said that in the face of strict social standards and consumerism, both men and women can hardly avoid the plastic surgery scalpel hanging over their heads.
<h2>The New Spark: Feminine Technology, Masculine Market? </h2>
The plastic surgery market is becoming masculine, and the plastic surgery technology itself has a very strong feminine characteristic.
1. In the male-dominated medical technology system, the number of female physicians has increased. At one point, more than 40 percent of women enrolled in many medical schools, and a larger female audience makes the technical role of cosmetic surgeon not exclusive to women. Overseas medical platform Zodoc shared a set of data that allowed patients to filter doctors by gender, with 1.2 percent of searches specifically looking for female doctors and only 0.27 percent searching for male doctors.
2. Fine plastic surgery projects require feminine qualities such as care and patience. A wise surgeon should have a pair of eagle eyes, a lion's heart and a pair of women's hands, like plastic surgery projects need more refined operations, such as hair transplantation needs to accurately determine the depth, thickness, direction, etc. of each hair follicle, and then treat, many aesthetic doctors are women.
3. Cosmetic surgery requires a lot of consultations, face-to-face examinations, which need to be done through communication, and female doctors usually spend a long time listening to the patient's opinions. In one study, female doctors waited an average of three minutes before interrupting a patient, while male doctors waited an average of 47 seconds.
In addition, many beauty seekers often have psychological insecurity, unclear self-awareness, etc., what is needed is not only a treatment plan, but also the repair of psychological trauma, at this time the obvious difference in empathy between male and female doctors will also affect the choice of medical seekers.
Emphasizing the field of plastic surgery in communication and service, more female doctors are needed to shine fever.
At this time, new contradictions arise.
On the one hand, demand is growing, but the career cycle of female doctors is not as long as that of male doctors. In general, female doctors are subjected to greater professional pressures, such as spending too much time listening to patients, so that female doctors end work later than male doctors; for example, they need to spend more energy on tasks such as caring for their families. Therefore, with the increase of rank, the proportion of female doctors has also decreased significantly, and many seekers can only choose male doctors.
In addition, the plastic surgery industry has a higher degree of marketization, coupled with the introduction of multi-point practice policies, the establishment of personal clinics is relaxed, and seekers often consume many times and repeatedly, at this time, they have a strong personal IP appeal, which is of great help to career growth. Female doctors are more susceptible to risk control, lack of energy, "impersonator syndrome" and other influences in personal branding, and lack the willingness and action to go further and take the initiative to market.
If the masculine market will bring new growth opportunities to the plastic surgery field, then feminization technology will give women doctors greater development potential.
It also proves that technology is about the future and destiny of all people. Pure masculinity or pure femininity should not be the direction of future technological development.
Only technologies that grasp and respect gender differences and pay attention to gender harmony have longer-term vitality.