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The Italian government, long known for its conservative outlook on societal issues, especially crime and punishment, has a working plan in effect to ban implants in children under the age of eighteen.
Currently, individuals under the age of eighteen are allowed to go under the knife for various surgical procedures with the consent of a parent or guardian, but the Italian government is starting to think the practice is getting out of hand.
The bill would disallow any minors from undergoing any non-medically necessary breast surgeries. The majority of the government agrees that the media has a large role to play in women feeling inadequate in their feminine features and is seeking to even out the playing field, so to speak. According to recent studies, more than 10,000 girls under the age of eighteen worldwide received breast implants from their parents or guardians as “gifts.”
Francesca Martini, a spokesperson for Italy’s welfare system, states:
“Far too many adolescent girls are unaware of the fact that there are risks with this type of surgery and it should not be used purely for fashion and looks.At the moment we have a Wild West, cowboy style system of plastic surgery for young women and this must stop … Banning under 18’s from having the surgery is also a good idea because these girls are just too young to be operated on. Some surgeons have no idea what they are doing and create huge risks.”
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I think this is a wise move. Nobody should be getting those sort of surgeries before they’re done developing. They also need to think about the risks and I’m betting most of those teens are pretty much just focused on getting bigger boobs. If you tell the average 16 year old that getting breast augmentation might mean they’ll be unable to breastfeed their babies they probably won’t care but they might well live to regret their actions. In an ideal world this legislation wouldn’t be necessary (neither would the surgery for that matter) but apparently it is.
Agreed. Breast augmentation is just one of those things that shouldn’t even be an option until you are an adult (and I’m thinking adult by American standards–age 18).
I don’t think this should be painted as a conservative issue, really.
I agree. It’s not like they’re saying implants are wrong and should be banned. Just that children shouldn’t undergo dangerous cosmetic surgery.
[...] Conservative Italy may possibly ban underage breast implants [Zelda Lily] [...]
I don’t really have a problem with this. Although it would probably end up being an 18th birthday present for daddy’s little princess, so I’m not sure how much this will even do. Still, I think it’s better to put it off until adulthood.
At least there’s a fair chance that they’ve finished developing by then. I know my breasts still grew a little during my first year in college even so it seems silly to give implants to girls much younger than that. A girl who gets implants at 14 but expand a cup or two naturally at 16 and wind up with far more than she wanted.
Good move I’d say. However, I’d much rather see efforts of the government to go into schools as well and raise awareness of the risks and talk about beauty in general. You don’t have ot have C Cups to be pretty. In the end the girls only do it for the boys anyway, which is very sad.
In Italy? Good luck.
I believe in the good of people ;)
In Italy, they like-a da boobs
I hate-a the fake-a boobies,they look-a like-a big old chunk a mozellrella!
In the same way I believe in age requirements for tattoo’s I believe in this age requirement for implants or other cosmetic surgeries (that aren’t fixing a deformity)
Italy is a world apart. I have been to Italy several times and so have most of the people I know, with the low cost airlines we can travel to Rome for like €5, and it seriously is like entering in Planet Boobs-and-Ass.
Female body in Italy is hypersexualised and used to advertise everything and anything. The Prime Minister chooses females to run in his party’s lists based solely on their looks (Google: velina), and there was a huge scandal since he held private parties for rich businessmen and even foreign politicians (Google: Villa Certosa). It’s disgusting.
I agree and don’t agree with this measure: I can see why they are approving it, but I wish Italian doctors had more common sense than to perform plastic surgery on minors; if they did, it wouldn’t have to be forbidden.
I agree, Miree.
I didn’t see much in the way of conservative attitudes towards appearance when I have visited.
My daughter commented on the fact that even the policewomen were wearing 3 inch heels when she was there.
Good for Italy. The U.S. should do the same.
In fact I’d be for banning of all implants no matter what the age.
Because it’s *your* business if an adult woman wants to pay her own money to alter her own body?
Not likely.
I’m opposed to breast implants because I think they are silly (discounting reconstructive mastectomy work), but when it has nothing to do with me, I have no say.
There are laws against women modifying their bodies. I’m 99% sure that female circumcision is illegal in the US for example. A law banning breast augmentation wouldn’t have a hope of passing but it wouldn’t exactly be without precedent.
I’m pretty sure it’s not illegal to do it voluntarily (though I can’t be certain), it’s just illegal to force someone (read: children) to do it. There aren’t laws about filing your teeth, spitting your tongue, or amputating body parts so long as it’s done with sound mind and understanding. So the precedent would be pretty weak if it’s valid at all.
Comes back to our debate on male circumcision huh?
From what I can find online there was a federal law enacted against it in 1996 but then there were several states implemented similar laws which suggests to me that the federal law isn’t an outright ban but it seems that the state laws are.
I’m not speaking in legal terms here, but in moral terms.
Maybe there are laws against female circumcision, but those (laws) too should be restricted to underage girls.
I am completely opposed to cosmetic surgery on children, but if I’m an adult woman and I want to remove my external genitalia, it’s my own damn business. Heck, I’m allowed to have them replaced with the facsimile of a penis – I sure as hell should be able to ditch all of it…
If I were to decide that I want my prepubescent-teenage female-sized tits to be normal sized and have the funding to do so, dammit no one better tell me it’s illegal.
Erin, sometimes we need to be protected from ourselves.
Ooor we could assume that if I were to make that decision (which in all likelihood I probably never will) that I am of sound enough mind to do so.
LOL, quite possible!
I actually disagree with protecting adults from themselves.
I do agree that children should be protected from themselves, but it is a strongly confused and difficult issue as to what age they should be able to make their own decisions, and I have no final answer on that one.
This *is* the country with a leader who explained Italy’s high rate of sexual assault with (paraphrased) “our women are so beautiful that the men just can’t help themselves”…
That’s disgusting! Ugh.
It reminds me of something I heard a few years ago, and I don’t remember who said it, but it was in regards to Islamic women being covered in public to essentially keep themselves from getting raped. The person (and again, I apologize for not remembering who) said something like, “If you leave meat sitting out uncovered, naturally a cat is going to get at it, and you can’t really clame the cat” (paraphrasing, of course).
What an awful mindset. Men DO have self-control, whether they exercise it or not.
*BLAME the cat
Hmm…I might have a problem with this. It depends on how they define “medically necessary.” Breast reductions, while not strictly necessary, can vastly improve certain women’s quality of life. A friend of mine got a breast reduction in the military, she had huge problems with clothes, back aches, and running because of them.
This is just posturing anyway.
They’ll just hop on one of those 5 euro Ryanair flights to Poland or wherever and get it done elsewhere.