Cosmetic Surgery and the Eclipse of Identity

Abstract

Within feminist theory, cosmetic surgery has been viewed largely as an oppressive technology that colonizes women’s bodies in a quite literal way, directly intervening in the body to mold it in accordance with the prevalent ideals of feminine beauty. Those women who undergo cosmetic surgery for purely aesthetic reasons are regarded as victims of a patriarchal ideology in which the self-esteem of women is primarily dependent on their physical appearance. The burgeoning in the use of cosmetic surgery by women is seen to be symptomatic of the permanent sense of dissatisfaction that most women have with their physical appearance as a result of being relentlessly bombarded with images of perfection by the mass media. As such, the predominant response to such a technology by feminists has been one of rejection.¹