Reshaping the Female Body: The Dilemma of Cosmetic Surgery [Paperback]

Kathy Davis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415906326 | ISBN-13: 978-0415906326 | Publication Date: December 10, 1994 | Edition: First Edition

Cosmetic surgery is the fastest growing medical speciality in both the U.S. and western Europe. The surgical fix' belongs to the growing arsenal of practices and technologies which are aimed at transforming the female body for the sake of beauty.' Despite its increasing popularity, cosmetic surgery is controversial. It raises the question of why women are willing to put themselves under the knife for operations which are painful, expensive, risky and often leave them in worse shape than they were before. Reshaping the Female Body attempts to make sense of women's involvement in cosmetic surgery. Whereas traditional explanations have tended to look to female narcissism, lack of self-esteem and susceptibility to the lures of consumer capitalism and myths of eternal youth or perfect beauty, Kathy Davis situates cosmetic surgery in a feminist analysis of the cultural constraints of femininity. At the same time, however, she argues against the notion that women who have cosmetic surgery are victims of ideological manipulation, blindly complying with cultural definitions of feminine beauty. Cosmetic surgery is less about beauty than about being ordinary. Davis argues that, paradoxically, cosmetic surgery can be a way for some women to become embodied subjects who by reshaping their bodies can remake their lives. She cautions against condemning cosmetic surgery as inherently repressive and, therefore, politically incorrect,' arguing instead for an approach which accepts the unease which cosmetic surgery invokes, while taking seriously the reasons of women who see it as their only option under the circumstances. Reshaping the Female Body sees cosmetic surgery as a dilemma: both symptom and solution, oppression and liberation, all in one.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Cosmetic surgery is a growth industry. Despite the expense and the risks of infection and unsatisfactory outcome, many women still choose to have their bodies altered. Davis, a professor of women's studies in the Netherlands, interviewed physicians, surgeons, and women before and after their operations to learn about their involvement in cosmetic surgery. She discovered that most of the women wanted to correct perceived defects so that they would appear ordinary and that they did this to please themselves, not men. Although she is a feminist, Davis argues against the traditional, politically correct stance that cosmetic surgery is oppression (found in works like Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, LJ 4/1/91) and states that deciding to undergo a procedure is in fact an act of empowerment that improves the lives of these women. She considers cosmetic surgery a complex dilemma rather than an absolute evil. Not an essential purchase, but women's studies collections will want to add it for balance.
Barbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Medical sociologist Davis tries to codify the complex decision-making process women undergo when deciding whether to alter their appearance surgically and to reconcile how a feminist could choose to alter her body to fit the "gendered social order" and remain a feminist. So striving, she studies women in the Netherlands (one of the few nations in which cosmetic surgery is a publicly insured medical procedure) who are considering or have already been through cosmetic surgery. Against this backdrop of real cases she pits feminist theory, especially concerning beauty, and comes up with two diametrically opposed points of view. Davis herself takes a position somewhere between the extremes and consequently becomes rather an outcast from the feminist social theory community. Although she never resolves the dilemma posed by the extreme positions acceptably, she brings to the surface complicated issues of female identity, beauty, social acceptability, "normality," and self-esteem; as she does, she offers new perspectives on some rather tiresome feminist debates. Mary Ellen Sullivan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; First Edition edition (December 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415906326
• ISBN-13: 978-0415906326
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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