Women, Doctors and Cosmetic Surgery - Negotiating the 'Normal' Body (Electronic book text)

Cosmetic surgery is a silent juggernaut that is occupying a significant place in our culture, becoming so normal in magazines that we are surprised when there isn't an article about it and taking its place regularly on television programs. Women are over-represented as cosmetic surgery patients and men are over-represented as cosmetic surgery practitioners. Even though cosmetic surgery saturates the media we know very little about what women say about their experiences of cosmetic surgery, why they want cosmetic surgery and the risks they are prepared to take to have cosmetic surgery. We know even less about the doctors who practice cosmetic surgery. This book describes the cosmetic surgery experiences of women and doctors. It critiques past theorising in this area and attempts to move the debate beyond the duality of women as victims and women as agents towards a clearer understanding of the complex interactions that occur within cosmetic surgery.