Vanity Insanity

The sociologist Debra Gilman defines plastic surgery as “the process of making an abnormal body into a normal one” (Gimlin, 94). Beauty itself is commodified and supportive of a “Three hundred million dollar (industry which) is increasing annually by 10%” (Gimlin, 78). Bodies have become a site of commodification, and cosmetic surgery personifies the route many men and women are willing to take in order to achieve a body that meets today's ideal. The objective in conducting this research was to understand our participants perspective on cosmetic surgery, and its effect on their perception of their own bodies. Our research draws from qualitative focus group interviews with 20 women who are University students. Interview data suggest that women are located in a contradictory position. On the one hand, they understand cosmetic surgery as the ultimate, and most intimate, invasion on the body. However, the majority of women also disclosed the pressure they feel to adhere to beauty norms, and cited women's, and to a lesser extent men's, decision to pursue cosmetic surgery as being a response to such pressure.