Now much more accessible and somewhat less stigmatized, plastic surgery appeals to a much wider market than before, a market that is getting younger and younger, and more and more men. Over the past two decades, the demand for male cosmetic surgery has grown steadily. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of men receiving Botox more than double from 2010 to 2016 and male breast reduction Rose by 181 percent from 1996 to 2016.
While the broader cultural discourse around cosmetic surgery focuses primarily on women, who tend to fear wrinkles and sagging much more than men, surgeons have noticed this trend. “The cosmetic surgery industry has realized that it can capitalize on men’s insecurities as well as women,” says Sarah Bonell, a body image researcher at the University of Melbourne.
Beyond standard facelifts and liposuction, men are also increasingly turning to riskier cosmetic surgeries, spurred in part by the relentless social media marketing efforts of digitally savvy clinics. From male BBLs to penis enlargement procedures, plastic surgery providers are targeting some of men’s biggest concerns with risky procedures.
“I have always accumulated fat in my chest and in my love arms. I tried different options: diets, sports, and failed in everything, ”says Richard, a 33-year-old Brazilian living in Paris. “And then I saw on Instagram that with surgery, the results would be faster and even better than what I could get with my normal exercise routine.” In June 2021, Richard traveled to Turkey for a BBL, a combination of liposuction and fat grafting, resulting in a flatter, rounder belly. He documents his recovery on Instagram as @richardmaleBBL, where he posts daily updates.
Abel, 33, from Chicago, has also struggled with body image all his life, which led him to look for something more drastic than daily squats. “I really appreciate the aesthetic of the muscular, toned rear end. I wanted this aesthetic and tried very hard to achieve its naturalness, but nothing worked out for me, ”he recalls. Abel received his BBL in May 2021 and chronicles his journey on TikTok as @astro_abe__, tagging his videos with #malebbl, a hashtag that boasts 2.8 million views.
The male BBL is slightly different from its female counterpart, with a more boxy, athletic butt without much padding added to the hips, compared to the softer curves and hourglass figure that women typically ask for. Deviating from the classic BBL definition, fat can also be transferred to the shoulders and chest, creating a muscular upper body without spending a single minute on the bench press. As Richard says: “Now we can buy what nature did not give us.”
While male BBL remains a marginal part of the entire BBL industry, Dr. Johnson Lee, a Los Angeles-based board-certified plastic surgeon, has noticed an increase in demand, especially since he started promoting the procedure on Instagram. “I have so many male patients who had no idea that BBL might be an option for them,” he says. Dr. Lee’s promotional material exists alongside countless other Instagram posts under the hashtags #malecosmeticsurgery and #malebbl, from before and after photos to short clips of the surgery.
Tereon, 22, who lives in Oklahoma, cites social media as a major factor in his decision to complete his BBL in May 2021. “I sincerely believe that men’s BBLs are becoming popular and the new wave Huck.
But despite both patients and surgeons touting the benefits and safety of BBL online, BBL is still the most dangerous cosmetic procedure currently on offer. Its mortality is much higher than other plastic surgery procedures, since the injected fat can get into the veins and get into the heart and lungs. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons even released public statement in 2019 to warn about the operation and urge doctors to proceed with caution. “If you knew about the dangers, you would not have had time to make a BBL before you would have jumped off the London Bridge,” says Dr. Alan Matarasso, a plastic surgeon from New York and a former president of the association.
Despite some plastic surgeons sounding the alarm, risky procedures like BBL continue to be advertised on social media — without any meaningful oversight or regulation. And while some cosmetics purveyors capitalize on men’s insecurities about muscularity, others target a more intimate area.
Before it was advertised on Instagram with euphemistic images of bananas, penis enlargement has been around for millennia. “Injections of foreign materials into the penis are described in historical texts such as the Kama Sutra,” says urologist Dr. Rena Malik. “People used things like paraffin, fish oil, petroleum jelly and mineral oil.” Since then, many more advanced methods have been developed, including silicone fillers, fat grafting, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, which involve taking blood, passing it through a centrifuge to concentrate platelets, and injecting it back into the blood. body.
PRP injections are mainly used for wound healing, as activated platelets help produce repair cells. But Dr. Kanwal Bawa, a Florida cosmetologist, has used it to increase penis girth in her male patients. “I am known for my anti-aging treatments like PRP. So I was already injecting men for other purposes, and many of them began to come to me with questions about penis enlargement, ”she recalls. “I have never seen anything like it. Quite unexpectedly, there were so many inquiries about this.”
Bava promotes the procedure, known as the P-shot, on Instagram under the pseudonym @bawamedical, and she’s not the only one enjoying high social media exposure. On his TikTok account @dickdocontiktok, Las Vegas surgeon Dr. Edward Zimmerman promotes his non-invasive “happenis” surgery, which consists of an injection into the penis to increase girth, to his 1.8 million followers. Miami’s Dr. Victor Loria (@drloria) advertises similar penis enlargement procedures to his 12,000 followers, appealing to men’s fear of not being able to satisfy their partners with the hashtag #sizematters in almost every video.
“I think there’s a culture around masculinity that perpetuates the idea that masculinity can be measured in inches,” says Cam Fraser, an Australian male sex trainer who regularly speaks to clients who are unhappy with their penis size and are considering enlarging penis. “Pornography exposure certainly contributes to this, and in addition, we live in an instant gratification society that emphasizes correcting your shortcomings with pills and procedures.”
But a quick fix can easily turn into long-term complications. A study conducted in 2018 by American urologists found serious adverse health outcomes for patients undergoing male enhancement procedures, including deformity, infection, and sexual dysfunction. Not all procedures have the same effect. For example, PRP injections, which are non-permanent and reversible, pose a much lower safety risk than silicone implants.
But while some men are willing to take that risk, it might not even be worth it for the sake of boosting their self-esteem. “I think our society as a whole has over-pathologised and medicalized the normal variations of male sexual function,” says Fraser. “If these men had bad sex before surgery and continue to have sex after surgery, their penis size will make little difference.”
The same dissatisfaction can arise after BBL. “There is a really high prevalence of body dysmorphia among people who have surgery, and for these people, surgery actually tends to make them worse,” Bonell notes. Although not everyone who has had BBL suffers from this condition, people’s insecurities still cannot be significantly alleviated by this procedure. “I am very pleased with my results, but I believe that the procedure made me more critical of my body and its appearance in general,” Theraon explains.
As clinics continue to flood social media platforms with promotional material and cut prices for some surgeries to stand out from the crowded market, more young people can take the leap, investing thousands of dollars in an ideal that can never be achieved.
Follow Chloe Meley on Twitter.
Like this article? Like Huck on facebook or follow us on Twitter.
