Minorities look to plastic surgery

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The American dream often conjures visions of white picket fences, puppies lapping a child's face and, for some, the wherewithal to afford plastic surgery.

For many minorities, the latter part of the dream is no longer deferred.

A new report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, a nonprofit organization based in Arlington Heights, Ill., says the number of ethnic patients going under the knife for cosmetic reasons jumped 65 percent from 2004 to last year.

Those figures dwarf the big picture: The overall number of cosmetic plastic surgery procedures rose 11 percent from 2004, with 7.9 million of those involving white patients.

Among minorities seeking plastic surgery, Hispanics lead the way with more than 921,000 procedures (up 67 percent) completed, followed by blacks, who underwent 769,000 operations (up 67 percent). Asian Americans received 437,000 procedures last year, a 58 percent increase.

The groups requested different procedures in different numbers, but the most commonly requested techniques for all three minorities were treatments with Botox or injectable wrinkle fillers and chemical peels.

Dr. Stephane Corriveau, a Chevy Chase plastic surgeon, says minorities "have been coming in in droves" of late.

"They see all the shows on TV that show all the plastic surgery. They see what's available out there," Dr. Corriveau says.

The mass media, as it does with the culture at large, helps shape how minorities see beauty -- and themselves.

"The fashions personified by the rock stars or movie stars bring procedures to the forefront," Dr. Corriveau says, citing actress-singer Jennifer Lopez's generous derriere as one example. "Buttocks augmentation didn't exist 10 years ago."