Bridalplasty is Bonkers

So, while I was idly flipping through the channels the other day I stumbled upon a show called, "Bridalplasty." At first I thought I was watching some prank or parody type show, but, alas... this reality TV nightmare was real.

Yep, she has a bouquet of syringes in her hands. Lovely.

If you haven't checked this show out for yourself, let me paint you a picture. Imagine a pairing of two gross, emotionally exploitative themes in television for women: Plastic surgery shows and wedding shows. Also, shove a camera in the faces of a bunch of bratty, naive, spoiled young women and ta-da! You've got Bridalplasty. The apocalypse is nigh.

E! has ordered up the new series, which, "crosses a wedding competition with extreme plastic surgery." Each week, a group of women compete head-to-head in such challenges as writing wedding vows and planning honeymoons. The winner receives the chance to choose a plastic surgery procedure from her "wish list." She's given the procedure immediately, and results are shown at the start of the following week's episode.

And, of course, the groom doesn't get to see his future bride's new face/body until she walks down the aisle on their "perfect" day.

It's shameful that someone created a show where women compete for surgery. And it's doubly disturbing that a woman who has found a man she wants to spend the rest of her life with would somehow think it's a good idea to start their life together with a new face. It's also vile that when the women vote off their competitors, they face, "possibly walking away with nothing and losing [their] chance to be the perfect bride" (in the words of the producers.) Apparently, the message here is that a woman is nothing without a surgically enhanced face and a liposuctioned body. A wedding cannot be perfect unless the woman has a small nose, ginormous breasts, and a size 0 waistline. Lovely, E!, lovely.

The fetishization of all things bridal - that having a ridiculously expensive floofy dress and a man on her arm is the best a woman can aspire to - is sick enough. But teaming this garbage up with the false idea that beauty equals happiness is really unhealthy. Why isn't there a show where female engineers compete to design eco-friendly power plants? Oh yeah, because no one would watch ladies with heads on their shoulders. It's been proven that there is an audience for this show out there, and even sadder - there are women willing to participate.

What happened to the notion that your future partner should love you for who you are (and not who you are a liposuction and a rhinoplasty later?) If my future husband walked down the aisle and looked like a completely different person, I think I'd bolt out the side door screaming. But that's just me.

Jimmy Kimmel recently made a parody of Bridalplasty, which he entitled, "Womb for Improvement." I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks these kinds of reality shows are absolutely ridiculous!

As a woman, I understand the desire to look "perfect" on your wedding day. But I think perfection needs to also have a dose of reality thrown in as well. Sure, I'd love to look flawless in pictures and be stunning in my wedding dress. But do I really need to fork out huge amounts of cash for painful plastic surgery beforehand that would completely change the God given features I have? Can't I just eat healthy, stay active and be happy with the way I am? Surely if my partner proposed to me, he must already think I'm pretty darn awesome already, right? Why the need to emulate an impossible ideal of "perfection" as seen in bridal magazines and on stupid shows like Bridalplasty? I really can't think of anything more warped.

- Jennie