In the short story "The Birthmark," what does the text reveal about America then and now?

In "The Birthmark," the scientist, Aylmer, fixates on his wife's one imperfection--a hand-shaped birthmark that mars her otherwise beautiful face. When Georgiana, the wife, turns pale, the mark looks like " a crimson stain upon the snow." As she is so beautiful and so close to physical perfection, this one mark starts to trouble Aylmer. While he could choose to be happy with his loving wife, he instead chooses to focus on her one small blemish. He provides her with a draught that he says will remove the blemish; however, his wife dies as a result of having taken it. 
America in Hawthorne's time was a place in which people hoped science and medicine could cure people of every imperfection. Today's America is not that different, as people turn to miracle diets (that aren't really miracles), pills, and procedures such as plastic surgery to achieve perfection. Like the characters Hawthorne presents, people today are also bent on achieving perfection and aren't happy with minor flaws that make them human.