Iranian-American pioneered "butt job" and "S-Curve" surgeries inspird by Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez
Forget face lifts, boob jobs or lip-enhancements (popular among many Iranian women nowadays) -- in California the latest cosmetic surgery must-have is the buttock enhancement, whether higher, rounder or just smoother. A recent AFP report credits Dr. Ashkan Ghavami, an Iranian-American surgeon and assistant clinical professor at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) for pioneering the S-Curve surgery which is behind many 'butt jobs' in Beverly Hills inspired by Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.
"A lot of people focused more on breasts -- for the buttock to be a focus of body shaping is definitely very new," Ghavami says. "Finally thanks to Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and all the media, now we are realizing this a much more natural way than butt implants."
He has performed the operation -- which typically costs $9,000-$16,000 -- for seven years, with the surgery most popular with black, Latino, gay and transgender people in Los Angeles, where the cult of the body is everywhere.
According to the Association of Plastic Surgeons, last year some 13.8 million cosmetic operations were carried out in the United States -- five percent more than in 2010. The most popular surgery is breast-enhancement, followed by nose jobs, liposuction and face lifts. But the number of buttock enhancements has surged, with 38 percent more this year than in the same period in 2010. Ghavami says most of the 700 he has carried out were within the last three to four years.
Opponents of buttock enhancements call the anatomic outcome "gross," unnatural, and out-of-proportion. Critics of cosmetic surgery also believe the majority of expensive operations are rooted in the "unhappy" client's psychological disorders and not medical necessity. Some even blame cosmetic surgeons for profiteering from basic human insecurities. Proponents of cosmetic surgery, however, say it is legitimate to get paid in exchange for boosting someone's self-esteem, albeit in a superficial, shallow or temporary way.
"I just knew that I was unhappy. And you know I did something for myself, something that did make me happy. And I feel great," said Kristina, 21, after going under the knife of surgeon Ashkan Ghavami.
