About her situation, let me say, vanity is one motivator for plastic surgery. But facial disfigurement really is in another category.

When I see a stranger who's missing a nose or a jaw, I instinctively tend to draw back in revulsion--or stare in fascination. It's not anything I think about, it's just what happens. I doubt my reaction is so unusual. That twitch across my face when I see a maimed person, is what this person sees every day, in every single face that notices hers.

Many people who have done something to improve their appearance, maybe losing weight, describe a new desire to "stand out," where before they only wanted to "blend in."

I can imagine, for the French woman and for other severely disfigured people who undergo cosmetic surgery, "blending in" again is a sweet ideal, indeed.
8:04:58 AM    comment []