Making Sense of Cosmetic Surgery: Narratives of Cosmetic Surgery through Aesthetic Surgeons and Patients/Clients
In Western societies, women's youth and physical beauty are highly valued. It is gendered, socially constructed ideas about the female body that influence how women experience their aging and how they talk about their 'aging body.' The growing presence, visibility, and acceptability of cosmetic surgery has significantly affected society and its perception of aging and beauty, and therefore, it is necessary to research how this medical specialty works from the aesthetic surgeon's and women’s point of view. The research was based on fifteen in-depth interviews with aesthetic surgeons and women who undergone anti-aging cosmetic surgery.
Preliminary findings
On the one hand cosmetic surgery is a medical speciality. On the other hand, it is a world of an entirely optional medical procedures. Despite the expanding mass availability of selected anti-aging products, their specialized purchase is subject to ostentatious consumption, as clinic visits are costly. Because aesthetic surgery procedures are still expensive, only some women can afford them. This fact causes increasing social inequalities between people. It leads to double pressure for women from society and a lack of finances, which can have negative consequences. Aging women may subsequently experience more significant inferiority, deprivation, and marginalization and natural aging process can be a life program for poor people.