January 2, 2008
America's Vainest City?
Forbes looked at the country's 50 most populous cities and compared the number of plastic surgeons per 100,000 people. The city topping the list? Salt Lake City.
Part of the explanation may be that the University of Utah's medical school offers residency in plastic & reconstructive surgery. However, Salt Lake residents also spend more on cosmetics, hair coloring, skin care, and the like than residents of other cities. Residents of Oklahoma City (a similarly sized city), for example, spent about $175,000 on hair coloring vs. $2.2 million for Salt Lake City, and $400,000 on skin care products vs. $4.4 million for Salt Lake City. So it seems the medical school alone doesn't explain the high rating. (I would like to know if they studied just Salt Lake City rather than the whole metro area, though I suspect the results might be similar either way. It would also be interesting to see income information. People with more disposable income will obviously have more money for cosmetics and surgery. Also, surgeons per 100k does not equal procedures per 100k.)
What's interesting to me is that this result is considered "shocking" -- because, I presume, of Utah's (well-deserved) conservative reputation. But I think they're missing two important points.
First, 'conservatives' (whatever that word might imply) are no less obsessed with manufacturing the perfect look than anyone else. For example: Watch Fox News for more than a few seconds, and you will be bombarded by bimbos female anchors with fake hair and breasts. This exercise should quickly disabuse you of the notion that only those 'crazy Hollywood liberals' think women should look fake and overtly sexual. (For more fun, take the Fox News Anchor or Porn Star Quiz). People in every society care about good skin and a figure that conforms to notions of attractiveness. Plastic surgery was once restricted to the elite because they had lots of money, needed to look young for career and/or status, and were perhaps more willing to break taboos. Now cosmetic procedures are cheap and ubiquitous -- why should we be surprised that they're prevalent in conservative Salt Lake City?
Perhaps there's still this sort of perception: "But wait, isn't Salt Lake City full of dowdy old-time Mormon housewives who wear homemade dresses and spend their days sewing and canning fruit?" This is, of course, untrue. I would argue that there are aspects of Mormon culture that, in a modern setting, actually lend themselves to "vanity". One is that the social organization and practices increase the pool of neighborly acquaintances and bolster gossip networks, fanning normal status competition ("keeping up with the Joneses" writ large). Another is the patriarchal power structure, which leads - as one should expect - to the exhortation that women should bear as many children as possible. (To put it bluntly, a woman's value is measured primarily by the number of children she has.) This increases pressure on a woman before she has children and also means she needs extra help looking young and attractive after having so many.
I would need more detailed information to really convince myself that Mormon cultural characteristics drive the results of the ranking, but there is one way in which I'm sure they are a primary factor, at least indirectly. It's the second point I think the "shocked" folks at Forbes are overlooking: Salt Lake City is full of young people.
In the old days it was mostly old, affluent women who got plastic surgery - they needed to look young to maintain attractiveness and status, and they could afford it. But with cosmetic procedures dropping in price and losing their taboo (indeed, becoming the "in" look), it should be absolutely no surprise for the young to latch onto them. And Utah's a relatively young place. Lots of young people means lots of young adults (i.e., adults of mating age, ~18-45) who have a strong desire to be considered sexually attractive. According to the U.S. Census, the median age in the U.S. (2000) is 35.3. The median age in Utah is only 27.1 and Utah Valley, just south of Salt Lake City and the most predominantly conservative, Mormon county in the nation, has a median age of just 23.3. (Oklahoma City, mentioned above, has a median age of 34. I also looked up the median age for all of the top ten 'vainest' cities on the Forbest list. Salt Lake was the youngest.)
I know of many young (and 'conservative' and 'religious') women around here who have had cosmetic procedures (and not for a cleft lip or a droopy eye). From all appearances, it's a booming business. My parents receive an advertising circular (ironically and annoyingly titled Hometown Values) that features some sort of cosmetic procedure on practically every other page, including cosmetic dentistry, teeth whitening, laser hair removal, tanning, permanent makeup, pedicures, day spas, hair salons, surgical weight loss procedures, cosmetic surgeons, and more. I chuckle every time I see it in their stack of mail (and then grumble about the goddamned craze over the word "values" that people still haven't gotten over).
So, is Salt Lake City really 'vain'? Maybe. It wouldn't surprise me in the least. And if it is, I suspect much of the reason is those crazy Hollywood liberals young people and middle-aged mothers who lost their shape when they had children.
02 Jan 18:36 | Link | Category: Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Opinion & Thoughts