Are we judgemental over boob jobs?

Feature in the DAILY MAIL newspaper…

Your friend announces she has had her breasts enlarged. Do you A: Ask her straightaway to get them out so you can see how fantastic they are, B: Feel a stab of jealousy that she has finally taken the plunge, as it were, and had the courage to go ahead. Or C: Feel lost for words – you can’t fathom why she would want such an ‘unnecessary’ operation…

If you answered strongly to one of the above, then you are not alone.

The first modern silicone breast implant celebrates its 50th anniversary this year – but it seems the very words ‘boob job’ still wield enough power to bring out the strongest emotions.

During the recent PIP scandal – when 50,000 British women discovered their implants were filled with an unregulated silicone meant for mattresses – the issue of how women judge other women because they’ve had a boob job became part of the issue.

On one hand women who’d had a breast implant, such as after a mastectomy, on the NHS were treated sympathetically with clinics immediately offering to replace them for free while those who’d paid them for vanity reasons were treated less sympathetically. There is still disagreement over whether NHS or private providers should pay for implant removal – after all, they chose to have the ‘unnecessary surgery’ in the first place.

For this article in Life & Style in the Daily Mail I spoke to five women who’ve all had boob jobs to find out if even now, they still find people are judgemental about the surgery.

Rachael Lalji, a married mum of one explains she doesn’t tell some friends she’s had a boob job because she worries what they might think of her. Meanwhile Janice Day, who’s had a reconstruction following breast cancer admits she always says she’s had a boob job for medical reasons.

Alison Chapman had difficulty finding a solicitor to help her gain compensation when her breast augmentation went wrong. Her own mum didn’t approve and she felt many people’s feelings were that she brought it on herself as having breast surgery was her choice. Thankfully Alison’s breasts have now been corrected but she says even friends have been judgemental.

Meanwhile Kristy Taylor felt some women were jealous of her figure and didn’t understand just how much she longed to have breast implants while the husband and parents of Yvette Ashdown begged her not to go ahead.

I spoke to a psychologist in body image who said one reason people might feel more strongly over boob jobs than other cosmetic surgery is because it’s linked to glamour models.

However, despite this, all the women in the feature were happy with their boobs and didn’t regret it – and certainly despite the recession, boob surgery remains the most popular cosmetic surgery and numbers are likely to still increase.

What do you think about boob jobs? Are they unnecessary surgery – should women simply accept their breasts as nature intended? Let us know below…