SOC265H1 Chapter Notes -Plastic Surgery, Physical Attractiveness, Hegemonic Masculinity
Document Summary
Cosmetic surgery has to be situated in the context of how gender/power is exercised in late modern western culture. Men as recipients of cosmetic surgery are the exception rather than the rule. Cosmetic surgery has now become acceptable for men. Whether men"s involvement in cosmetic surgery is viewed as desirable or as cause for concern, the implication in bothcases is that what we are seeing is a new trend. Gender differences in bodily experience, body practices, and cultural discourses on beauty and body alteration are converging in the direction of sexual equality. Bordo: argues that a homogeneous or universal ideal is promoted in any discourse of equality, whereby individuals are presented as having the same desires, needs and opportunities for giving shape to their lives. When men and women are treated as generic individuals with the same desire for physical attractiveness, it is assumed that they are both equally subject to the pressures of cultural ideals of beauty.
