cosmetic surgery research (dissertation)

sorry lza89, i just saw the second part of you last question…

“do you feel that there are positive aspects of the surgery? “

like i mentioned before, i think society makes women feel bad if they dont look the way that is desired (we want big boobs a tiny waist and a round bum, but if we dont have this to begin with, then its not natural, we have to work to attain it, so how is this the desired normal body?) so when someone has surgery to conform to this ideal, society praise’s them, not to much however, as this would reflect badly on us a nation. I, as im sure you cn tell, am all to aware of the striving for perfection that women do, enforced by our community and culture, but i also have had surgery, hypocritical you might think. when women truely say im having a boob job for me so i feel more womanly/sexy/pretty etc i do beleive them, honestly, i just feel they probably havnt considered why big boobs would make them feel this way (i.e. societies rules). or they may well be aware of these implications, but like myself have come to terms with the fact that this is life! as ugly as it may be, me trying to convince myself that my extremley large forhead isnt actually ugly, but thats just what society wants me to think, isnt really going to do me any good. a forehead reduction however….. now that did me some good. all who have had surgery and now feel better about themselves have in essence conformd to the culturaly set normal and desirable body, but why not. it is a cycle that i cannot see changing anytime soon. surgery is a positive aspect if it enhances ones confidence and happiness, which will positivly effect their lives. even if this happiness is constructed by others!!

do you think there is a difference in the way people treat or feels about those who participate in socially legitimate body modifications (i.e. cosmetic surgery), and the way they treat or feel about those who participate in socially illegitimate modifications (i.e tattooing)?

if so, why do think this is?

i do think there is a difference, but to be honest i couldn t put my finger on why. as a man who has had surgery, i could tell you that i wouldnt have any problems with dating a woman who has had surgery, nor would i have any problems with her getting surgery. (within reason, i mean if she had had do much surgery that her face looked plastic and her boobs weighed more than her thats a different story), but a couple of years ago i was in a relationship with a woman who wanted to get a collection of tattoos on her foot going up her leg, and i wasnt happy about it, so much so that it caused quite a few arguments between us (in the end she settled for just having a few small flowers on her foot, which was quite girly). looking back i know i shouldnt really be telling her what she should and shouldnt do with her body, but like i said with extreme plastic surgery, i just felt it wasnt the right thing for her, i thought shed definatly regret it. i wanted to stop her doing something i though wouldnt benefit her, she works on the market and it just didnt feel right.

i can see that i probably come off as a hypocrite, but to be honest ive never really grouped cosmetic surgery with stuff like tattoos, thinking about it, they are both a form of body modification but they’re at such opposite ends of the scale that i (and im sure others) wouldnt ever group them together.

i cant give to much detail from personal experiance, i have both cosmetic surgery and tattoos, but i cant say ive experienced very varied responses to each other by ‘society’. The most i can say personnaly is that when i wanted my nose done, my parents were 100% behind me, when i had my breast aug, they wernt as happy, they thought i didnt need them doing, and they didnt want me having serious ops when they wern’t necessary, but it was more concern about my health, they didn’t try to stop me though, and supported with me.

when i decided to get a tattoo, my mom asked me not to, and my dad told me if i got it he’d cancel my cards if i did (i also had a trip to palm springs booked and he said he would cancel it), so i left it for a while, and then just got it without telling them. they wernt happy, but they didnt do anything they threatened to do, and my mom thinks its quite pretty, and shes happy that you wont be able to see it on my wedding day! or in any nice dresses (its on my hip).

like chris downtown said, i don’t tend to group the two things together, they’re pretty different, so i havn’t really though about it in that context.

as a general thought, i suppose people are treated differently because a lot of tattoos my by intimidating or not very nice to look at, kind of offensive in some way, but i dont think cosmetic surgery offends people, its just part making yourself better.

i suppose the difference between the two would be that bettering yourself is promoted in life, and cosmetic surgery is the ultimate way to do this, discard with the old and bring in the new. people are always obsessed with the ‘new them’. but tattooing is seen as a mark of being bad, or different. its a way of perhaps deforming the body, changing it in a way that doesnt suit societies version of perfection. although i wouldnt say these views are very vocalized within the world, i think they are deep seated, lying under the surface, but very much present. many of those affected by these ideas may not even be aware of them, and the people who hold the views may not be aware that they have such differing attitudes towards the two modes of body mod. its engrained within social life, and were brought up with these. however attitudes do change slightly as time passes, there was a time not to long ago that a tattooed woman would have been considered, a freakshow or psychotic, and obviously that label is no longer in circulation, but to deny there is slight animosity or aprehension towards tattooed people, especially if they are particularly large or offensive.

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