Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
We need to stop judging women based on ‘shallow, ‘imaginary’ ideals,’ says reader
I welcome the government crackdown on ‘cosmetic cowboys’ doing unlicensed procedures such as ‘Brazilian butt lifts’ or offering Botox and fillers, often in unsafe conditions (Metro, Thu).
Hopefully, this will extend to surgeons operating on Brits abroad – some of whom have ended up dead. Of course this is the symptom of a wider problem – that people feel the need for these surgeries at all.
Limiting access to them should make them less normalised, which will help.
But we need to deal with the fact that tens of thousands of people are so unhappy with their bodies.
That is a damning indictment of modern society and evidence we have a long way to go to stop judging people by their appearance, especially women, because – let’s face it – it’s mainly women getting these procedures.
It’s women who feel so insecure they are willing to risk life and limb to make themselves look nearer to some imaginary ‘ideal’. We still judge women based on that shallow, predictable physical ideal. It’s sexist, it’s disgusting and it’s killing people. Ryan Cooper, London
‘It’s society that needs to change, not you.’ Reader comments on Brazilian butt lift procedures
These procedures won’t make you look any ‘better’ – whatever that means – and it won’t make you feel any better.
The desire to have this done comes from insecurity about your body, pushed by massive amounts of ingrained and internalised sexism in society. You need self-acceptance, not bigger lips.
No one’s feelings about your body are as important as yours and you will care less about it as you get older – it’s one of the best things about getting old.
Any procedure has risks. Having unnatural rubbish pumped into your body is unhealthy and potentially dangerous, even if done by a qualified professional.
It’s society that needs to change, not you. If anyone tells you otherwise, then they’re a git. And you shouldn’t waste your time caring about gits. Helen Shaw, Liverpool
Got a question about UK politics?
Send in yours and Metro’s Senior Politics Reporter Craig Munro will answer it in an upcoming edition of our weekly politics newsletter. Email alrightgov@metro.co.uk or submit your question here.
A solar panel scare?
Molly Neville (MetroTalk, Mon) thinks energy secretary Ed Miliband’s suggestion that new-build homes should be fitted with solar panels is the precursor to building solar farms on all farmland.
This is the same sort of thinking that suggests speed limits lead to the banning of private cars, low-traffic neighbourhoods limit people’s movement to their immediate area and getting vaccinated is a plot to inject us with tracking devices.
These are the modern equivalents to believing that when we sneeze we are vulnerable to evil spirits entering our bodies and are driven by the same factors – irrational fear and ignorance. Martin, London
Will the Renters’ Rights Bill make any difference?
Further to Rushanara Ali having to resign as Labour’s homelessness minister after hiking the rent on her east London property (Metro, Fri).
If there are any other tenants who have had steep rent rises as I have, it would appear Ms Ali is not alone. First-tier tribunals, which deal with claims of unfair rent increases, allow landlords to impose huge rent rises with impunity.
Where I live, most landlords now seem to be companies and therefore expect large profits, which these tribunals seem willing to permit.
I doubt the government’s forthcoming Renters’ Rights Bill will make any difference. Edmund Hill, Brighton
‘£219 million of unpaid NHS bills’, reader says we should ‘demand countries pay their NHS bills or we stop their foreign aid’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported to be considering introducing VAT on private healthcare. The government should instead give tax relief on private healthcare, thus easing the pressure on the NHS. Another burden on the NHS is health tourism. Visitors from 155 countries have run up £219million of unpaid NHS bills. We should demand that these countries pay their citizens outstanding bills or we stop their foreign aid. Clark Cross, Linlithgow
