Masculine girl undergoes plastic surgery to look more feminine

Customer service officer Bae So Young was bullied and almost raped when she was younger, and that traumatic experience caused her much fear and anxiety.

To protect herself from history repeating itself, she came up with a plan - by changing her appearance to look like a man.

Apparently, the psychological effects of that decision caused her to develop more masculine features.

Taking her role-playing to the extreme, she even changed her voice and spoke like a man.

This caused a lot of unhappiness in her family. Her mother was heartbroken.

Her mother, who was also featured in the show, said that every time they went out, people would mistake her for a guy.

On the show, Miss Bae said: "When I was 15 years old, something horrible was done to me by my male friends. Since then, I began thinking that it happened to me because I was weak, and I decided to become as strong as possible.

"I think that's when I began to change."

But she realised that her problem was psychological and made the decision to get her life back.

Miss Bae went thorough a volumising fat graft, zygoma reduction, square jaw reduction and barbie line nose surgery for her face.

Her parents, who were in the audience at the show, said they were so moved by her transformation that they could not believe that it was their daughter standing in front of them.

Next     Origins

Origins

Plastic surgery has increasingly become a quick fix for those not satisfied with their looks.

A sharper nose, slimmer jawline and bigger eyes are on the menu at the doctor's office, at the price of a branded handbag.

But way before fans of these aesthetic procedures indulged their quest for perfection, vanity was not why plastic surgery was put into practice in the first place.

Normalising one's looks as opposed to enhancing them was the order of the day.

One Korean reality TV show that has garnered high ratings, even in its current fourth season, has milked this premise.

The controversial Let Me In, which is shown every Wednesday at 11pm on channel M (StarHub TV Ch 824 and SingTel mio TV Ch 518) features contestants with heartrending sob stories in search of a second chance at life by going under the knife.

Origins

Sloane Clinic's Dr Tan Ying Chien, a local plastic surgeon who specialises in ear reconstructive surgery, told The New Paper: "Many people nowadays don't realise that plastic surgery first started as a speciality to treat deformities.

"It started during World War I, due to the need to treat a large number of disfigured soldiers.

"A large part of plastic surgery deals with reconstructive surgery for patients with defects present at birth (such as cleft lips), from trauma (such as facial injuries) and cancer (after mastectomy for breast cancer).

"Interestingly, it is the experience obtained from these procedures that plastic surgeons have used to build their skills in cosmetic surgery."

Next     'Plastic surgery can help turn lives around'

'Plastic surgery can help turn lives around'

In a condition known as microtia, which occurs in approximately one in 8,000 live births, patients are born without the external ear.

He said: "Reconstructive surgery for this type of patients involves harvesting of the rib cartilages, carving and assembling them into the shape of the external ear to help reconstruct the absent ear.

"I have helped a number of patients with this condition, and seen them transformed psychologically, from people with low self-esteem to confident young people.

"So, yes, plastic surgery can help turn lives around."

Not all the contestants in Let Me In were born with deformities, but they said their looks had prevented them from leading "normal" lives.

Local fan of the show, businesswoman Karen Tang, 34, said: "I cried when I watched them (the contestants) tell their stories because many of us are lucky enough not to know what it's like to be bullied, raped or shunned.

"More than anything, I feel very good about myself every time after I watch the show as I end up feeling very grateful and thankful for the pleasant face I was born with."

 
This article was first published on July 21, 2014. 
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