Book and Journal Summaries

MATERIALISM, SOCIOCULTURAL APPEARANCE MESSAGES, AND PATERNAL ATTITUDES PREDICT COLLEGE WOMEN’S ATTITUDES ABOUT COSMETIC SURGERY By Donna Henderson-King, Grand Valley State University and Kelly D. Brooks George Washington University

The main purpose of this article is to show the relationship between cosmetic surgery being a very female orientated industry, woman’s attitudes towards surgery and the pressures woman are under to achieve such desired attractiveness. I believe that the key question being asked by the author’s of this journal would be ‘What specific factor’s cause woman to consider undergoing cosmetic surgery?’ and ‘What factor’s in particular effect woman most and how?’ 

Social pressures is a key area of study within this article, K.Brooks and D.Henderson-King have studied the work of feminist social scientists, philosophers, and social critics Adams & Crossman, 1978, Bartky, 1990 and Wolf, 1991, to name a few in helping to support their argument that “woman and girls are socialized to attend to and enhance their physical appearance and are evaluated by others on the basis of their attractiveness.” Woman are seen here to be “relating to their bodies as objects,” and indulging in “self-objectification” through angst over their body image, and influences and interaction with the media and others. A quote from Brumberg, 1997 “The female body becomes not only an object, but also a project, an object to be worked upon,” shows how woman are in the frame of mind of needing regular alterations, through the effects of celebrity, media and the so-called principles set for feminine beauty.

Attitudes of friends and families is another key area brought up in this article through secondary research from the author’s showing that “Negative body evaluations and attempts to lose weight to better conform to societal standards of thinness have been linked to the attitudes and actions of parents and peers in girls as young as elementary school age.” (Leung, Schwartzman, & Steiger, 1996; Smolak, Levine, & Schermer, 1999, Dohnt & Tiggeman, 2006; Jones, 2004; Jones, Vigfusdottir, & Lee, 2004). The author’s argue here that although no research has been done specifically into the area of cosmetic surgery attitudes, the attitudes of weight loss and thinness are “activities aimed at improving physical appearance” which in a nut shell is the basis of the whole cosmetic surgery industry. Media representations and information on woman and appearances is another big factor of influence on woman shown here through research obtained by the author’s, “Previous research has provided evidence that being exposed to messages emphasizing female attractiveness can result, at least for some girls and women, in lower levels of body-esteem and body satisfaction” (Clark & Tiggeman, 2006; Henderson-King, Henderson-King, & Hoffman, 2001; Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 1997; Jones et al., 2004; Morry & Saska, 2001). And finally materialism and consumer culture particularly in Western countries, is shown to be an underlying aspect of the world of cosmetic surgery. With the media advertising the body as an ‘object,’ consumer culture and capitalism have encouraged woman to view their bodies as merchandise’s giving the desire to constantly alter and change their appearance through cosmetic surgery.

In order to obtain some primary research K.Brooks and D.Henderson-King surveyed and examined undergraduate woman and their attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. Not only where they focusing on inclinations towards having surgery they also wanted to focus on general acceptance based on social and intrapersonal motives. Their aim was to collate and review the combined effects of - “appearance-related attitudes of close others, sociocultural messages about appearance, and materialist aspirations.” - through questionnaires given to a group of young woman, aged 17-26, ranging from lists of available choice answers and question and answer sections including all of the above mentioned areas of particular interest.



Making the Cut How Cosmetic Surgery is Transforming our LIves By Anthony Elliott

The main purpose of this book is to allow us to understand some of the main driving forces behind our cosmetic surgical culture, and how we are on the ever increase of cosmetic surgery in our country and all around the world. The key question Anthony Elliott is addressing in his novel I believe is given to us in the title, ‘How Cosmetic Surgery is Transforming our Lives?’ and it is his objective to go through each of the main areas individually to understand how it is affecting our attitudes and behaviours towards cosmetic surgery. Going through each chapter in order I found each to be vital in understanding the purpose of demonstrating that there is not one single cause for our development into a cosmetic surgical culture. Elliott conduced very little primary research in this novel, he spoke with a few people asking of their experiences of surgery and some surgeons but most information was gathered from secondary sources.

Chapter one in particular focuses on ‘The Rise of Cosmetic Surgical Culture,’ and how Cosmetic Surgery is now seen as the “fastest growing beauty business in the world today.” Elliott had retrieved some secondary research sources for the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) reporting a increase of 50 per cent in 2005 and 35 per cent increase in 2006 of cosmetic surgery operations in Britain, and that in the UK the cosmetic surgery industry is estimated at being worth more than £528 million annually. The second chapter is called ‘Celebrity Obsession: Fame, Fortune and Faking It,” and a crucial quote to sum up this idea of our changing culture is “As the economy becomes cultural, ever more dependent on media, image and public relations, so personal identity comes under the spotlight and open to revision.” Today people in our world have such a desire of celebrity bodies and are prepared to go under the knife to say “Make me look like her.” And Elliott explains “Celebrity is part cultural and part devine, and to this extent a pure image of creativity.” Chapter 3. ‘Want-Now Consumerism: Immediate Transformation, Instant Obsolescence’ focuses primarily on the consumer society and what keeps people hooked especially in the industry of cosmetic surgery. Elliott quotes ‘Liquid Life’ by Zygmunt Bauman ‘‘The promise to satisfy human desires in a way no other society in the past could do or dream of doing,” whilst commenting on the excessive nature of consumer society. Elliott goes into some depth in this chapter to try and come to terms with what keeps this consumerism evolving and what has people ‘anchored’ in consumer culture. Marketing and advertising of beauty products and surgery is another dominant area of discussion allowing us to see the direct influence this has on peoples attitudes and choices. The final chapter, ‘Making the Cut: Cosmetic Surgical Culture in the Global Electronic Economy,’ centralizes around the whole idea of cosmetic surgery being an effective tool, if you like, in getting ahead in your work, getting promotions or a new job. A quote from The New York Times (2006) “Sometimes nips and tucks can be career moves” pretty much sums up Elliott’s argument of “It’s better to promote your own assets than rely on your track record, since the latter is already yesterday’s news.” This fear of disposability in our global culture is also another area Elliott looks into as he feels this is linked with people’s need to turn to cosmetic surgery as they are unhappy about their own appearance.