Writer Probes the Land of Lipo

Hoping for a firsthand glimpse at the $13 billion cosmetic-surgery industry, an undercover writer visited three surgeons to ask what could be improved—on her 27-year-old, 5-foot 9-inch, 120-lb. body. “Are teenybopper idols and those who emulate them freely choosing plastic surgery? Or is plastic surgery choosing them?” Melanie Berliet asks in Vanity Fair. The surgeons offered varying assessments, from advising “banana roll”-reduction to laughing when she mentioned lipo.

“On white women, you guys like to get this down. And we like to see it down,” said the first surgeon, pointing at Berliet’s rear end. The next doctor told her she had “a great body.” The last refused to make his own analysis. “I’m not here to, like, pitch you,” he said. “The way it works is: you tell me if something specifically bothers you, and I’ll tell you if I can address it.”
(More plastic surgery stories.)