{"id":28045,"date":"2024-08-23T11:29:39","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T18:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/?p=28045"},"modified":"2024-08-23T11:29:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T18:29:42","slug":"attitudes-toward-plastic-surgery-changing-people-of-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/attitudes-toward-plastic-surgery-changing-people-of-color","title":{"rendered":"People of Color are More Open to Getting Plastic Surgery Than Ever Before\u2014Here’s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Featured Experts<\/strong>
Dr. Steven Williams<\/a>, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Dublin, California
Dr. Mansher Singh<\/a>, a board-eligible plastic surgeon in New York City
Dr. Michelle Hardaway<\/a>, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Farmington Hills, Michigan
Dr. Carl Truesdale<\/a>, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

It wasn’t that long ago that plastic surgery was only associated with one, very particular, type of patient—an older, wealthy, white woman. (Cue the Joan Rivers imagery.) But with every passing year, it becomes increasingly universal, no longer relegated to any one age group, socioeconomic status, gender, or race. “We’re seeing the diversification and democratization of plastic surgery. More and more people who hadn’t considered it are now seeing that it can be an option for them, a part of self-care,” says Dr. Steven Williams<\/a>, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Dublin, California, adding that he’s specifically seen this among African American patients. To better understand what’s behind this shift, we tapped top BIPOC plastic surgeons to learn more about how attitudes (and surgical trends) are changing among patients of color.  <\/p>

The stigma has been lifted—and social media is largely responsible<\/h2>

It’s undeniable that general acceptance and normalization of plastic surgery have increased as of late, but Dr. Mansher Singh<\/a>, a board-eligible plastic surgeon in New York City, says this holds especially true for minority patients. Why? All the experts we spoke with attributed this to social media. Simply talking about plastic surgery more on social media promotes social acceptance, Dr. Williams notes. According to Dr. Michelle Hardaway<\/a>, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Farmington Hills, Michigan, it’s a primary reason patients no longer see plastic surgery as something solely reserved for the rich and famous.<\/p>

That being said, celebrity influence is still important. In this case, it’s more celebrities of color being open about work they’ve had done. “We’ve previously only seen examples like Michael Jackson or Little Kim, who weren’t necessarily enviable. They were extreme and changing their ethnic features,” points out Dr. Carl Truesdale<\/a>, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California. Now people of color have varied examples of what enhancing, rather than changing, their natural features can look like.<\/p>

Find Doctors Near You<\/a><\/div>

Patients appreciate seeing doctors like them<\/h2>

For good reason<\/a>, there’s long been distrust of medical institutions among the Black community—and that extended to the cosmetic realm, notes Dr. Truesdale. However, the narrative is starting to change, and many patients of color appreciate having doctors who look like them. Data has shown that, in medicine in general, people feel more listened to and understood when they have a doctor who looks like them, says Dr. Truesdale. This can definitely be an impetus in plastic surgery, as patients often feel like there will be a greater interpersonal andcultural understanding, he says. <\/p>

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