"Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Our society today has gone from transforming normal bodies into ones that have been cut, altered, and tightened to achieve that "perfect" look. Cosmetic surgery is a gendered technology of the body because it actively targets women while men silently sit on the wayside as onlookers. We see perfect examples of these targets in magazines, movies, and television programs.

Older women in the limelight feel threatened by men due to the ageism and sexism in our culture. The fear of being replaced is constantly present so to turn to the best cosmetic surgeon in the area to keep one’s job is not uncommon. Other examples face us at every turn of the page in fashion magazines: models modeling clothes in sizes that most women would not be able to wear. These computer-enhanced female figures are programmed into the minds of young girls and used for comparison. This comparison girls to believe that they are “fat” or “flat-chested” while still undergoing puberty. In movies women are represented through the eyes of men. And this affects men’s expectations. How many guys want to “get with” the “fat” girl compared to how many guys want to get with the woman with large breasts?

The trend to undergo any type of cosmetic enhancement has steadily increased. According to the American Academy of Facial and Plastic Surgery (AAFPRS), patients between the ages of 50 and 59 were the top candidates for such surgery. In this category, 90% of women and 68% of men reported looking younger as one of their top reasons for considering facial cosmetic surgery. Who undergoes what? Rhinoplasty (nose correction) ranked number one among men, while Blepharoplasty (eyelid correction) ranked number one among women. While men are increasingly likely to elect cosmetic surgery, women are still the overwhelming number of patients and the target market of cosmetic surgery advertisements.

Is cosmetic surgery in high demand due to our society being too caught up in superficial, sexist, and ageist ways of thinking about bodies, or is cosmetic surgery a (costly) gift available to those who can pay to change the results of genetic makeup?

Suggested Readings:
Kathyrn Pauley Morgan, "Women and the Knife," in Sex/Machine ed. by Patrick Hopkins. Bloomington: IU Press, 1998.

Kathy Davis, "Facing the Dilemma," in Sex/Machine ed. by Patrick Hopkins. Bloomington: IU Press, 1998.

Websites:
http://www.plasticsurgery.org

http://www.plasticsurgery.org/mediactr/trends92-99.htm