Cosmetic Surgery in Two Healthcare Contexts

Abstract

This chapter examines the history of plastic surgery in Britain and the US, with a particular focus on the factors that have contributed to the significantly higher prevalence of aesthetic operations in the US (ISAPS, 2010). Davis (1995) has argued that the organization of healthcare in any country both determines who has access to cosmetic surgery and shapes the discourses employed in expressing the practice’s controversial elements. Based on Davis’ claims, a comparative analysis of cosmetic surgery in Britain and the US requires attention to their very different healthcare systems. At the same time, the field of plastic surgery cannot be explained solely as a product of its medical context. As Haiken (1997: 18) notes, cosmetic surgery is a ‘cultural practice’ as well as a medical one; its analysis should therefore consider the ‘cultural, as well as medical’ setting.