An increasing number of selfie-obsessed young women are seeking out cosmetic surgery under the guise of female empowerment. More people than ever before are getting plastic surgery.

Many are doing so to look better in selfies. Patients are blaming their weird appearance in selfies as a reason to consult a plastic surgeon and seek minor or major cosmetic procedures.

The unhealthy nature of such a relationship is the modern notion that selfies, nude pictures, and lip enhancements are an expression of personal empowerment, or feminism.

Young girls seemed to have been so conditioned by advertising and media to believe that sexualization equals feminism.

Simply asking whether the constant adjustment of their appearance using editing software might be bad for their self-esteem, left them upset.

The effects of Instagram on social comparison have created a distinct relationship between examining photos online, getting insecure about one’s looks, and then fantasizing about changing one’s appearance.

Instagram simply affords greater opportunity than ever for such comparisons. Social media is taking the blame for phenomena that women in our culture  are objectified.

Everyone admits that Social media played a part in her decision to get cosmetic procedures. Everyone admits that being on Instagram often made her feel insecure.

Whether you use your body to promote natural looks or to privately embrace synthetic ones, you are still leveraging your appearance as vehicle for your identity.

And as long as fashion remains an expressive business, it is neither feminist nor sexist nor pathological, just another indicator of your vulnerable need to be seen, to be accepted.