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Is changing a feature of your body or face a sign of weakness/unconfidence?

If someone were to dye their head hair, facial hair, eyebrows; get any kind of peircing or tattoo; or, even liposuction or plastic surgery ( all of which change your physical appearence. some of which, however, are more healthy then others)... could any of that be a reason to suspect that this person shows unconfidence ( and a sense of weakness) with his/her current image and self esteem; and so wants to change it in order to create a better "social fit". Please DON'T respond with a "they do it to look better for themselves". Saying this would assume that this person has never been influenced by society in any way and is having these ideas out of complete thin air, which IS NOT true. They clearly see others doing these things and so have the idea to do it themselves. So again, my question is: would causing these changes be a result of being unconfident and weak psychologically? Please give good though out response, I ( and i bet others) really want to get an answer to this.

Public Comments

1. only if saving oneself from public prosecution is a sign of fear or unconfidence
2. if your changing for u and only u thats a good thing but if your doing it 4 someone else its a sign of low self-estem. in the mist of changing your self u also become something or better yet someone you would not want to be, u will loose who u really r
3. I would say it depends on how important it is to the person to have the change done. If their approach is similar to that of a buying a new dress or wearing make-up... that it is like a decoration, then no, I don't think it is a sign of weakness. But if these cosmetic changes are looked at as important in defining who the individual is as a person, then yes, I'd say it was unhealthy and a sign of weakness. I do think we have to recognize that significantly deformed people fall into a different category. If they are ostracized from society in some way due to their perceived "weak" areas and have the ability to change that through surgery, who can fault them for making that choice? In such cases, it would be the same as someone who is blind or deaf opting for a surgery to fix their problem.
4. A person's external appearance is a given package part of themselves. This outer skin of appearance is the basis of interactions with others. The more attractive one is, the more drawn others are. The attractiveness has in essence acted as an advertisement to others to be interested in that person. This boosts self-confidence and is nourishing psychologically. We all know about hubris and that it can lead some to excess vanity. This can happen too, but not necessarily. When a person is unattractive, there are less interactions of a spontaneous nature. The person's unattractiveness, in essence, has decidedly limited others from wanting to approach or be associated with that person. Isolation and being ignored has devastating effects on confidence and the viscious negative feeback continues to create a socially withdrawn individual, not necessarily, but usually. A weak psychological state occurs when the person starts to view him/herself as the victim of the atrociously unfriendly or mean world. One thing that fascinates none other than youth and the risk-takers of society is distorting one's natural appearance or beauty. Some distortions: a woman shaving her head, dying hair hot pink, having multiple piercings or tatoos on the body that results in covering up natural skin or semblance of looking like a regular human.... In these cases, they have opted for the unique and distinguishing image, while pretty much slashing their natural appearance. Oddly, 95% of the population won't find these changes appealing. As for cosmetic surgery, some claim that if a person gets surgery to correct a low self-esteem, it is the wrong reason. What then is the right reason to have cosmetic surgery? Is cosmetic correction only for the shallow, unfeeling people? Hardly. It's my contention that anyone who undergoes cosmetic surgery is reinventing themselves in more ways than physical and that it doesn't matter why they do it. Everyone does a particular activity because of different meanings they derive from it. Thus, my point is, whether they do it because they have confidence or psychological issues is besides the point. IF they desire to reinvent themselves and feel better, that's up to them to consider privately and not for others to judge. I'm not necessarily an advocate of plastic surgery. I am just an advocate of individual and unique wants that reflect each person's own values and goals for oneself.
5. I find in this day and age, changing your own features to have a better 'social fit' unfortunately comes close to what used to be expressed only by wearing pretty clothes or prettily styled hair. Soooo, in a sense, do ALL these improvements (whether clothes or tatoos etc) mean that one is being unconfident? I guess it is human nature to try to please one another and oneself; therefore, I feel, whatever makes you feel good is okay. Sometimes I think it even takes a great deal of confidence to make a radical change and then display it to society...as everything else, it depends on the person: some will make all kinds of changes and STILL not be confident, others couldn't care less and still are, even if not so perceived by society.