Abstract
This chapter examines the affective and the biopolitical dimensions of technologies associated with beautification and describes these technologies as enacting particular social norms and forms of citizenship on the body, with significant material effects and ethical implications. A review of the anthropological literature demonstrates that technologies are no longer separate from the human body but are central to its becoming, and this complicates our understanding of how technologies of beauty become imbricated with gender normativity, with racial inequality, and with global affective structures tied to social aspirations. The chapter then presents a Brazilian case study centred on a novel surgical procedure known as bichectomia, or buccal fat excision. Despite the high risks associated with it, this surgery is hailed by Brazilian surgeons as revolutionary and able to provide ‘facial harmony’ to patients. The surgery is viscerally haunted by racial typologies that equate whiter features with harmonious shapes, and the technological promise of radically transforming the body leads surgeons to externalise the risks of the surgery on the bodies of patients. The anthropology of beauty must be reframed as an anthropological study of technology and technological expertise to account for the assemblage of actors that enact beauty onto the body.
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Notes
- 1.
I do not believe we live in a postfeminist world (feminism is incredibly useful and urgent as an analytic), but the literature that analyses postfeminism uses the term to indicate neoliberal and individualistic approaches to women’s rights that undo many feminist victories.
- 2.
Website for Dr Leandro Camargo, ‘one of those responsible for the dissemination and popularization of bichectomia in Brazil’. https://www.drleandrocamargo.com.br/. Accessed 23 April 2021.
- 3.
‘13 Beauty Procedures This Plastic Surgeon Says “No” To.’ Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/dangerous-plastic-surgery-procedures#cheek-fat-removal. Accessed 23 April 2021.
- 4.
Section on Bichectomia in the website for the dental clinic Iarossi, located in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil. https://www.iarossi.com.br/bichectomia/. Accessed 23 April 2021.
- 5.
‘Know everything about bichectomy: from the objectives to the recovery.’ Website for Orofacial Clinic TwoFace, located in Goiânia, Brazil. https://twoface.com.br/blog/saiba-tudo-sobre-bichectomia-dos-objetivos-a-recuperacao. Accessed 23 April 2021.
- 6.
‘Cheek reduction becomes a fever in Brazil and reinforces the country’s title as the one with most plastic surgeries in the world.’ R7. https://meuestilo.r7.com/diminuicao-da-bochecha-vira-febre-no-brasil-e-reforca-o-titulo-de-pais-que-mais-faz-cirurgias-plasticas-no-mundo-24082019. Accessed 23 April 2021.
- 7.
‘Practical Courses on Orofacial Harmonization.’ Website for the Velasco Institute. https://www.institutovelasco.com.br/cursos-2/. Accessed 23 April 2021.
- 8.
‘Who We Are.’ Website for the Velasco Instituto. https://www.institutovelasco.com.br/quem-somos/. Accessed 23 April 2021.
- 9.
‘I liked orofacial harmonization, where do I start?’ Video on the official YouTube channel for the Velasco Institute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biMFqfnAw5A. Accessed 23 April 2021.
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Jarrín, A. (2022). Technologies of Beauty: The Materiality, Ethics, and Normativity of Cosmetic Citizenship. In: Bruun, M.H., et al. The Palgrave Handbook of the Anthropology of Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7084-8_29
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