It’s always somebody else, isn’t it?

Here’s a little sociological study of plastic surgery patients that made me chuckle, initially reported on the BBC News website. File this under: “it’s not me…it’s them!”
Dr Debra Gimlin, a sociologist at the University of Aberdeen, spoke to 80 female cosmetic surgery patients, aged from 20 to 70, for a study on attitudes regarding cosmetic surgery. Forty were Britons and 40 were Americans.
Dr Gimlin said more than 50 of the 80 women had created the notion of a “surgical other” they distanced themselves from. These were imaginary women characterized as “narcissistic and shallow”, having surgery with little consideration of its risks, who had unreasonable expectations of its effects, and were obsessively concerned with their appearance, quite unlike themselves, who just wanted a natural look from their own carefully considered cosmetic procedure.
British women tended to see the surgical other as living in America, and the American women, who lived in Florida, tended to see her as living in Hollywood, California.
A 47-year-old British sales clerk who had liposuction the year before said: “Over here, we’re not like those American womenwho have loads of surgery without a second thought.”
One 27-year-old American nurse interviewed said: “I’d never want to look like one of those ageing Hollywood starlets who’s gone under the knife a few too many times.”
It’s always the other guy / lady, isn’t it?
Enjoy the long weekend. Don’t text while driving!