This Issue Of Cosmetic Surgery

This Issue Of Cosmetic Surgery In recent years, the popularity of cosmetic surgery has escalated significantly. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2008, some 12 million cosmetic procedures, most of which were minimally invasive, were performed in the United States alone. As Dutta (2008) cited in Swami et al (2012, p. 55) claims, this situation is not only found in North America, but also for instance in Europe which has currently become the second-largest market for cosmetic surgery. Concerned with the maintenance or enhancement of physical appearance (Swami et al, 2012, p. 55), cosmetic surgery is an invasive physical practice, offering people an opportunity to modify their body (Lirola and Chovanec, 2002). Through discourse of cosmetic surgery, mainly influenced by the media, which as Lirola and Chovanec, (2002, p. 488) claim both constructs the need for such a practice as well as legitimizes it, more people are becoming increasingly willing to undergo such practice. Among these people and according to ASPS statistics (2009a, as cited in Swami et al, 2012, p.55) the vast majority of cosmetic surgery patients are young women. Boseley (2012) reports that 6 in 10 (63%) 16 to 24 year olds were ready to undergo cosmetic surgery to ensure feeling better about their appearance. It has become a habit that cosmetic surgery interventions are also being given from parents to their teenage daughters as birthday or graduation presents with breast implants being the most favourite (Gilman, 1999). This is because media and vicarious experiences are promoting unrealistic beauty ideals which are in turn influencing young peoples attitudes towards their own looks. Because of this, cosmetic surgery needs to be seen as an important social practice because it merges the attention given to the body by an individual person with the values and priorities of the consumer society (Lirola and Chovanec, 2002). 1.2 Personal Perspective This issue of cosmetic surgery has always fascinated me. Seeing middle aged and even older people paying good money to rejuvenate their looks, has become a common scenario. However, cosmetic surgery done by young people who are still in their prime, always fascinated me to a much larger extent. I was always curious to find out why these young people decide to opt for surgery. While growing up as a teenager and even to this day that I am now a teacher, youth worker and a mother, even I were and still am aware of things which I do not like in my appearance. However, it never occurred to me that I should go for cosmetic surgery or when it did, it was just a thought which quickly passed. This curiosity is what led me to conduct this study. When does one cross the line and decide to opt for the surgical fix? Both as a student of Youth and Community Studies and in my line of work, I meet a lot of young people who in my eyes are all beautiful in their own way. This is not however always in unison with their perception about their own self. Through this study I would like to find out what it is that really that makes young females to undergo cosmetic surgery. This study however will be more interested in the sociological motivations since it has a sociological approach. That is why this study is interested in the interaction between social actors. Is society influencing their way of thinking or are their perceptions and the decisions they take unaffected by the cultural hegemony? 1.3 Organization of the Study Apart from the introduction, this study comprises of four other chapters. The literature review (Chapter 2) presents a review of the literature related to the study of the body and cosmetic surgery. Starting from Descartes mind-body dualism and the difficulties it posited to sociology in studying issues related to the body, the literature then shifts to a more embodied sociology giving more importance to a lived body. Other issues tackled are how the body has come to be seen as our identity and also gender. Since this study focuses on young people, it then takes a look at what forms the body image of adolescents and how consumer culture influences the body. Finally it gives a very brief history of cosmetic surgery and how are young females being affected by it. Chapter 3 gives a detailed explanation of the methodology of the study. It explains how the participants were chosen and how the interviews were done. It also deals with how the data was analysed, ethical considerations taken and the limitations of the study. Chapter 4 presents the findings of the study and their interpretation in the light of the literature found in Chapter 2. Chapter 5 concludes the study by answering the research questions which the study was set to answer and also presents recommendations for future research. This chapter has given some brief background information of what will be presented in this study, while the chapter that follows will explore the literature that will help the interpretation of the data analysis. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introducing the body. It was only recently that the body has become one of the main concerns within sociological theory. Before this time, the discipline of sociology looked at human beings as the social actors or the social agents whose character and behaviour depended on their social location, beliefs and values (Turner, 1984). The founding fathers of sociology viewed the body from different perspectives. Marx and Engels shared the belief that in order for society to exist, the continual reproduction of bodies was salient. They looked at bodies as both the means and the object of human labour. Durkheim believed in the dual nature of human beings which he referred to as homo duplex. He believed that the basic divisions of body and mind led to a true antagonism between our individuality and our spirituality, which according to him made it almost impossible to ever be at peace with ourselves as one cannot follow both natures, since one is rooted in morality and the other in the desires of the body. Weber w rote about the rationalization of bodies through time and space and the controlling of emotions. He believed that the more capitalism enters in the bureaucratic structures, the more dehumanising and disenchanted the modern individual feels, confined in its iron cage. Simmel wrote about the senses and human emotionality. He believed that the eye, out of all the senses, had a distinctively sociological function since the interaction of individuals is based upon eye contact between them (Williams and Bendelow, 1998). As Turner (1984) claims, it is evident that human beings both have bodies and are bodies, which fact makes human beings embodied, just as they are enselved (Turner, 1984, p.1). Recently a lot of studies have tried to address the corporeal existence of human beings. However, in spite of intriguing findings and better understanding of the subject, according to Crossley (2001) some persistent dilemmas remain. Drawing from previous philosophical theories about the body, it was not easy along the years for sociology to arrive to a decent solution to the philosophical ambiguity of the mind-body dualism. It was Rene Descartes (1596-1650) who living in the Enlightenment era was greatly influenced by scientists like Galileo and their contemporary scientific discoveries. It was a time when the physical sciences, as we know them today, were emerging and there was a strong belief that everything could be explained by the laws of mechanical causation. With this belief in mind, and always in search for the knowledgeable truth, Descartes started to doubt everything that he could not be sure of. He even doubted his very own senses, reminding himself that he had sometimes had vivid dreams (Crossley, 2001, p.9). However he came to the conclusion that the only thing that he could be sure of was that he was thinking and therefore that was proof enough of his existence. Cogito ergo sum meaning I think therefore I am is Descartes most famous statement which was the very beginning of the Cartesian dichotomy, i.e. the mind-body dualism. For Descartes, the person is the mind. He believed that the mind is clearly elevated over the body and that the body is a non-essential aspect of his true nature (Crossley, 2001).It is a common belief that in a time when everything was reduced to scientific explanations, Descartes, being the religious man he was, aimed to keep an element of the spiritual, giving importance to creativity and the soul through the prominence he put on the mind. Many were the scholars (Ryle, 1949; Merleau-Ponty, 1965) who critiqued the Cartesian dualism and exposed the dilemmas it posited to sociology. As Crossley (2001) clearly explains in his book The Social Body: Habit, identity and desire, the mind-brain identity theorists believed that there is no interaction between the body and the mind and the fact that both of them act together at the same time in a plethora of human beings everyday activities, led to the conviction that the mind and body are in fact one. Crossley (2001) argued that sociology could critique this theory for being too reductionist and for sticking to the Cartesian framework it sets out to critique. In The Concept of Mind, Gilbert Ryle (1949) depicts the Cartesian dichotomy as the myth of the ghost in the machine, the ghost referring to the ghostly nature of the mind which is not physical in nature, while the machine refers to the body that does not contain any human characteristics, also described as corpse or meat by Leder (1998). Ryle (1949) believed that Descartes committed a category error when he took the mind as distinct from the body. For Ryle, who was a firm believer that dualism was wrong, both body and mind must be reconceptualised if we really are to overcome dualism He sets the way to a non-dualistic sociology when he manages to exorcise Descartes ghost strongly and convincingly. He wanted to challenge the notion that the mind is superior to the body. For Ryle, the mind is not a separate thing. He believed that mental life is embodied. Crossley (2001) gives a detailed explanation of how language, emotions, consciousness and understanding are not as many think simply introspective. Ryles (1949, as cited in Crossley 2001, p.41) main concern was to show that such mental concepts are used by embodied agents in specific contexts of action. Merleau-Ponty (1992, as cited in Crossley, 2001), who like Ryle challenged the mind-body dualism, managed to take his work a step further. He believed that looking at behaviour was salient in dissolving this dichotomy. For him all behaviour always had a purpose and meaning in the social world. Through this he also brought up the issue of social agency. He delved into the nature of perception and posited that desire, emotion, cognition and perception are not, strictly speaking, separate parts of our behavioural life but rather integrated and mutually affecting aspects of a single and coherent structure (Crossley, 2001, p.89). Merleau-Ponty sees the body as more than an object yet less than a subject since it both looks for and reacts to meanings in diverse everyday situations. This is Merleau-Pontys sentient and sensible body, presented to us as a body which can touch yet can be touched, can see yet can be seen, can perceive yet can be perceived. As Crossley (1995) explains the key is to understand that the perceiver and the perceived are relational beings (ibid, p.46) like two sides of a coin, not separate from each other but changeable facets of one and the same being. Therefore to the question What am I? Am I a body or am I a mind? one can quote McGuire (1990, as cited in Williams Bendelow, 1998) when he posits that human beings are embodied agents who experience the material and social world in and through their mindful bodies (p.4). My body is not something additional to me, it is not something which I, as a disembodied spirit, reflect upon. It is who I am. (Crossley as cited in Martin, 2012). 2.2 Shifting from sociology of the body to embodied sociology. Williams Bendelow (2002) claim that sociology has shifted from seeing the body as disembodied to giving more importance to a lived body referring to ones own experiences of his/her own body, as him/herself. This gave rise to what is today called embodied sociology, a kind of approach which lets us reflect upon the interconnectedness of bodily, mental and social interaction. Crossley (2001) posits that the human body does not simply exist in itself, but also for itself. This is the main reason why social agents continuously inspect themselves in the mirror and worry about how they are portraying themselves to others. Through a reflexive process, individuals, being embodied beings, turn back onto themselves and work to effect the change they want to see. They turn to excessive exercise, dieting and sometimes go as far as having their bodies surgically transformed. This duality of being and having also applies to habit making us habitually self-reflexive. As embodied beings, it is not just us who have our bodies and habits. Our bodies and habits are also perceptible to others which mean that we are never in complete possession of ourselves (p. 141) because our selves depend on something beyond our control the collectively valued forms of representation. Crossley claims we only manage to have ourselves by learning to see ourselves from the outside through social interaction as other. Our embodied self depends on the way the body that I am and I have is positioned in the intersubjective order that results from the social significance of our corporeal appearance. This echoes Cooley (1902, as cited in Crossley, 2001) when he argues that individuals develop their sense of self from the image of our self which others reflect back to us in interaction (p. 143). Meads (1967, as cited in Crossley, 2001) concept of I and me where the I takes the role of the other as a means of turning back upon myself, to reflect upon myself as me (p. 147) is at the root of this concept. It is in this way that individuals develop their concept of self by acting out the role of the other. The I and the me are not in competition with each other for predominance but rather enjoy a temporal and reflexive self-relationship of an agent who chases her own shadow (p. 147). The split between I and me is between a sensuous and socialised bodily agent and the image which that agent is able to form of itself (p. 147). Meads main emphasis is about reflexivity and how the self (as I) becomes conscious of itself (as me). By adopting the role of the other, social agents are able to scrutinize themselves and this helps them to free themselves from self-blindness, which is caused when embodied agents look out upon the world from their very own place. In this way the views, values and perspectives of the generalised other directly influences what Bourdieu (1996) calls the individuals habitus, and the sedimented dispositions that result have a direct impact of her sense of self which unsurprisingly influences her behaviour. This reflexivity highlights why the human body, although specific, gendered and once regarded as fixed, cannot nowadays be as easily defined (Evans, 2002). As Foucault claims there is no natural body (McNay, 1992). Evans (2002) believes that the notion of the body is always accompanied with an already deeply socialized set of expectations. Bordo (2003) confirms this by stating that cultures grip on the body is a constant, intimate fact of everyday life (p.17) showing that our bodies, like anything else that is human, are heavily influenced by culture. Feminism, especially in the work of Judith Butler (1990, 1993) and Susan Bordo (1993) has also questioned the belief that bodies are biologically given and fixed, and argued that the human body is both culturally and historically specific. 2.3 The body as a form of identity Giddens (1991) argues that gone are the days when traditional stable identities were derived from ones position in the social structure. In this era of late modernity attempts to base identity on the body has become popular, and hence society is witnessing a reflexive concern with identity and the body. Shilling (1993) argued that with the individualisation of the body, the body has become an agent of symbolic value, in Bourdieus (1996) term a source of symbolic capital. Despite this, the work of Bourdieu makes us realise the importance class has for understanding embodiment. Bodies, for Bourdieu, mark class in three main ways through the individuals social location, the formation of their habitus and the development of their tastes (Gill et. al, 2005 p.5). This shows that the management of the body is pivotal to status acquirement and hence salient to identity. Skeggss (1997) work on young, British working class women clearly shows this by emphasizing the ways in which they used th e shape, styling and design of their bodies to challenge or even break away from class assumptions that declared them as inferior (ibid.). Featherstone (1991) argues that the body has become to be seen as a vehicle of self-expression, a view supported by consumerism. Efforts to create and retain a coherent and viable sense of self-identity are often called body projects. These are manifested through attention to the body, particularly the bodys surface (Featherstone 1991). This is because in contemporary times the surface of the body has become the main location where object relations are handled, not only in the individuals identity formation years but also throughout our whole life (Blum, 2003). 2.4 Gender Literature shows that females are more obsessed by these body projects, possibly because as Evans (2002) argues the female body, unlike the male, has always been regarded as unstable and malleable. Feminists claim that female bodies have significantly been more vulnerable to cultural manipulation of the body (Bordo, 2003).Women are generally seen as passive while men as active. In his analogy of men and women with animals and plants respectively, Hegel (1967, as cited in Bordo, 2003) ably represented the duality of male activity and female passivity. So powerful and deterministic was this that as Bordo (2003) writes, when Guttmacher analysed sperm under the microscope for the first time he refused to describe sperm as waiting for the ova and instead portrays them as cruising, as if they were looking to pick up girls. Despite this however, classical images in the Holy Bible depict the woman as a temptress (Eve, Salome, Delilah) as do the more contemporary secular versions in movies su ch as Fatal Attraction. In an era where sex sells, literature shows that the womens body has become sexualised, sometimes objectified and at others depicted as a manipulator. A homogenous, indefinable ideal of femininity constantly requires women to attend to the very finest detail in fashion. As Bordo (2003) continues to claim, female bodies have become docile bodies, bodies whose forces and energies are habituated to external regulation, subjection, transformation, improvement (p.166). Although male concern over appearance increased significantly during the late 1970s and 1980s, studies confirm that a huge gender gap still exists. Women seem to be much less appreciative of their bodies and show extreme negative assessments on their distorted bodily perception (Goleman, 1985). They also seem to judge themselves more severely when they realise that they are not conforming to the cultural ideals of beauty. This is becoming worse as time goes, since many females continue to be dissati sfied with their body image perception. It is interesting to note that in a study held in 1985, teenage girls were the group most dissatisfied with their appearance (Bordo, 2003). 2.5 Body Image in Adolescent Girls At the macro level, the sociocultural perspective highlights the importance of an appearance culture that honours and shapes cultural ideals of beauty (Vilhjalmsson et al., 2012). It is during adolescence that this culture, represented by the media, family and peers, manages to make adolescents internalise these normative beauty ideals (Jones, Vigfusdottir, Lee, 2004; Thelen Cormier 1995). As Blum (2003) explains, adolescents obtain their body image totally from the outside. The adolescent girl enters the world uncertain whether her face and body would be consented by those around her. There are many definitions of body image, a term coined by Paul Schilder in 1935 (Blum 2003). However it is generally understood as a mental image of ones body as it appears to others (Featherstone, 2010, p.194). He claims that body image also changes with time and space. Ferguson (1997a, 1997b) argues that there has been a shift from a closed body image in the nineteenth century to a more open and ambiguous sense of body image today (Featherstone, 2010). This ambiguity relates to another concept- the body schema, which is more related to the felt body. While body image is in simpler words the look one has for others, in which the visual appearance is essential, body schema goes deeper than this and involves the non-visual sense of the body. This draws attention to how our senses work together not just to help us perceive the world around us but also how we sense and interact with other bodies in everyday life situations. It goes beyond the mirror image, focusing mainly on body rheto ric which is central of charisma, a characteristic which most attracts peoples attention (ibid.). Despite this however, young females are increasingly becoming more concerned about their bodies and about how to achieve the ideal standards of beauty and bodily perfection. Armet (2008) states that this is leading to a body-image crisis in American adolescents, with increased numbers of young girls suffering from low self-esteem, obsessive exercising and disordered eating. Through the cultural emphasis put on judging women solely on how they look and how much they conform to standards of beauty and fashion, girls are becoming more self-critical of their own body. They try to dedicate all their energy to perfect their outside appearance. This is because for the young female her body is the primary expression of her individual identity (Armet, 2008, p.2) which she aims to improve by buying clothes and other things to further enhance her exterior surfaces. These issues form a discourse that stresses the importance of the body. The young female has learned to give priority to her bodys physical appearance since she has come to regard her body as her identity. This leads to implications in her adolescent behaviour where a quest for identity becomes a struggle with her body-image (ibid.). 2.6 Consumer Culture and Body Image As Featherstone (2010) posits, it is naturally understood that consumer culture is obsessed with the body. We are constantly being bombarded by media images of models, celebrities and other stars showing off their beautiful, perfect bodies. They are generally portrayed as happy and youthful, and enjoying luxurious surroundings. Critics have argued against this kind of narcissistic life, pointing out its superficiality and an abandonment of human values. This is because according to them the concern with body image is often dangerous as it creates a diversion from the importance of social justice and equality. Most of the images used in advertising, are technologically abused, to the extent that their level of beauty is often unattainable. These images do not simply represent what there is behind them but what one should aspire to be. These are the images that are making us compare who we are not and who we would like to be (Featherstone, (2010, p.197). These comparisons lead us to tr ansformation -presenting the before and after picture- which is today pivotal not just in consumer culture but is also one of the key tenets of Western modernity. Celebrities, media industries and sportspeople are replacing scientists, explorers and intellectuals proving the shift from the virtues of consistency and steadfastness to a charming and engaging appearance (Featherstone, 1982, 2007). The constant fascination with celebrity lifestyles made available through cable, satellite and the internet keep showing us how they maintain their good looks and bodily fitness while coping with their challenging lives. Even when they fall and have to deal with drugs, alcoholism or weight problems, they are seen as triumphant since fitness regimes, diets or gurus put them back on the road to self- improvement (Featherstone, 2010). This puts pressure on individuals especially females who thanks to the media imagery fall victims to feeling unhappy with their bodies, to start routines sometimes drastic, of self-improvement (Bordo, 2003). A new body image gives one a new improved self-image and a more exciting quality of life. Since even status and social acceptability has come to depend on looks it is indeed of no wonder that today taking extreme care for ones appearance becomes an obligation to self and portrays those who ignore this obligation as being flawed. As Featherstone (2010) remarks, clothing, cosmetics and adornment used to enhance ones look become not just a constructed appearance of what one wants others to see, but also reflexively they provide an outward image which seeks information in the returned glances of others, for the inner narrative of what one feels one should be (p. 198). This is mainly found in contemporary Western societies, where being a woman has often been referred to as a form of theatre (Sontag, 1978, as cited in Featherstone 2010)) where women are constantly watching themselves being looked at (Berger, 1973, as cited in Featherstone 2010). Nevertheless beauty has also become associated with moral goodness. The body, especially the face is seen as a reflection of the self, through which a persons inner character is manifested (Rivers, 1994; Twine, 2002, as cited in Featherstone, 2010). Kuhn (1990, as cited in Featherstone, 2010) explains however how cosmetics do not only make up the woman but also the image, capturing both the elegant appearance, but also the look which summons up the inner narrative (p. 198). This puts together a narrative, evidence of an embodied person. Charisma and stardom draws attention to presence, which is an additional aspect to body image. It is something which needs to be felt and works in a different way to beauty. It is an experience communicated between bodies which create affective resonances, and hence is trusted more than just an image. This is the affective body, which contrary to the body image, is a body without a specified image. Here we think about the feel good impression sensed via affect. The moving body presented on television, cinemas and video captures a body in process. Affect is communicated by non-verbals such as gestures, and facial and body movements. Here, the image has become a process where in contrast to the conventional sense of body image, is presented as an affective body which provides additional embodied information. Consumer culture is still, however, constantly asking consumers to scrutinize themselves for imperfections, and to measure up to ideal bodies presented in the media (Featherstone, 1982). This points towards the work of Giddens (1991) who wrote about a high degree of reflexivity in late modernity, since these actors are investing in body projects as a means to enhance their self-identity. This view was criticized for keeping with the mind-body dualism and for its overemphasis upon the rational choice of those who seek to control their bodies (Budgeon, 2003; Shilling and Mellor, 1996, as cited in Featherstone, 2010). But really and truly, is the choice rational, when we are constantly being bombarded by all these pressures to look good, almost convinced that this will lead us to a better life? The body has become to be seen as salient for a good life, the look good: feel good transformation which, thanks to consumer culture, is portrayed as available for purchase to one and all. It is common belief that body works will not just upgrade the body to reach societal constructs of beauty but are also pictured to open a full range of lifestyle opportunities. Body modifications have nowadays become the means to create a beautiful appearance and hence a beautiful self (Featherstone, 2010). 2.7 Cosmetic Surgery -a brief history According to Albin (2006) body modifications are defined as changes made to the body, either self-induced or by the hand of another, that result in permanent alterations visible to the unaided eye. These modifications, which include tattooing, piercing, and cosmetic surgery to name a few, all share a common motive that in the end the individuals find pleasure in bodily expression, decoration, and attractiveness that can ultimately be admired by others. Cosmetic surgery is certainly one of the most impressive techniques for body reconstruction. It is the kind of surgery where the surgeon cures the cosmetic defects and emotional pain resulting from lack of liking and acceptance of ones appearance (Blum, 2003). Cosmetic surgery falls under the umbrella of plastic surgery, however cosmetic surgery only deals with surgery that has to do with the aesthetic, referring to surgery done on a healthy body simply for the improvement of looks. Haiken (1997) reports two separate developments that account for the emergence of cosmetic surgery. The first development was when early cosmetic surgeons were considered charlatans or beauty doctors and were not taken seriously albeit certain techniques they developed are still in use today. The second development came with the First World War, when surgeons gained expertise while trying to treat disfiguring scars of soldiers for cosmetic purpose. From the late nineteenth century, cosmetic surgery was associated with actresses since their careers always depended on the longevity of their good looks and by 1923 it was set in the public imagination as a celebrity practice (Blum, 2003). Gradually, a technology that was primarily aimed at replacing malfunctioning parts has caused an ideology promoted by desires of transforming and correcting, challenging the very materiality of the body (Bordo, 2003). Sarwer et al.(2004, as cited in Swami et al, 2007) believe that a rise in media fascination, higher incomes and loss of stigma are but a few reasons why even the common people in postmodern times are opting for the surgical fix especially in countries like the Netherlands, where cosmetic surgery is offered free through publicly funded healthcare (Gimlin, 2007, as cited in Swami et al, 2007)). Studies show that rates of cosmetic surgery have risen significantly both in Western and non-Western countries during the past twenty years (AS APS Statistics, 2008; BAAPS Statistics, 2008; Jones, 2008, as cited in Gimlin, 2010). Recent studies show that young people between the ages of 16 and 35 are turning to cosmetic surgery more than ever. 2.8 Young females and cosmetic surgery Body-image scholars claim that it is much easier to succeed in the world if one is good-looking (Blum, 2003). Appearance culture imposes the thin hourglass shape as a female body ideal (Vilhjalmsson et al.,2012). Although many were the researchers who have indicated that this contemporary feminine ideal of thin attractiveness is unattainable for most women (Irving, 1990; Levine Smolak, 1998; Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, Kelly, 1986; Wilcox Laird, 2000), it still triumphs despite its opposition. As Ferron (1997) claims body image lies at the heart of adolescence and hence young females enter the world longing for their looks to be approved by those a