Nosy Eurocrats

I just came across reports of a big scientific study in Belgium (I know, who knew they did scientific studies in Belgium? not yours truly, that's for sure). For sixteen months, they studied 226 patients who came to doctors for nose jobs - that's rhinoplasty in medical-speak.

I didn't see anything that told what the split was between the sexes, but these folks were all sixteen or older. 

What they found was this: 

• If the patient came for functional rhinoplasty, meaning to make the nose work better for breathing and so forth, then they were rational and/or sane in 98% of the cases
• If the patient came for cosmetic rhinoplasty, meaning to make the nose look better, then they were mentally ill in 43% of the cases.

So these Belgian Eurocrats are telling their serfs, “If you want to breathe through your nose, that's fine. If you’re just not crazy about your nose, it’s because you are just crazy. Period.”

The study’s authors pinned a diagnosis of BDD – Body Dysmorphic Disorder – on those seeking cosmetic help. BDD is defined as "a condition marked by excessive concern over minor or imagined flaws in one’s appearance." Good grief, folks, why else would anyone get a cosmetic nose job? It's just because she doesn't like the way her nose looks, OK? No big deal.

I'm guessing these Eurocrats' mothers never taught then that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” so now they've decided that it's up to them to tell everyone how they should look. 

In other words, there is no room for individual taste or style in the coming Eurocracy. What will the fashion houses of Italy do? What indeed?

Posted by Lewis Cannon