I recently set eyes on a Barbie doll of a woman in a Brooklyn restaurant. At first glance, she looked drop-dead gorgeous. Tall, super-thin, great clothes and a flowing shaitel, the works… But when I saw her face, I was shocked.

She looked like a plastic doll and clearly had more than her share of cosmetic plastic surgery. Collagen-plumped lips, an all-too-perfect button nose, false eyelashes and a suspiciously sculpted face - this was beyond the normal way of “putting yourself together”. It was downright scary.

This was a beautiful woman in her 30’s who for some reason felt compelled to alter her appearance to disturbing proportions, and it made me very sad.

Since I love to share my FIT school projects (like this one that I did for Kim Kardashian) here’s one I did with a team regarding cosmetic surgery and body image.

The assignment: Create a visual presentation using the theme of “Disaster AND Reconstruction”

Our take on it: Cosmetic surgery, often called “Reconstructive”, is a disaster in itself. Women are told that they are unfit the way they are naturally, that they’re true look are “disastrous”. But when they go under the knife to reconstruct the parts of themselves that society shuns, that is the true disaster.

The presentation: We called our project “Dysmorphia”, from Body Dysmorphic Disorder. As a tongue-in-cheek way of getting our point across, I illustrated a doctor holding a bloody syringe. This respectable physician tells women they are not sufficient as they are. Mother nature makes mistakes, and the only way to correct them is through plastic surgery.

This was a powerful statement on the unfortunate way we view women’s natural beauty, and makes me think of that pitiful Barbie doll woman.

Especially for frum people, who maintain that our physical bodies are just vessels for the spiritual, what do we think about cosmetic surgery?

Is it okay in moderation? Fine if it’s for a shidduch? Or just plain wrong?