Critique Essay: Cosmetic Surgery and Individual Identity

Subject  > Social Science Essays  > Society and community

Summary: Elizabeth Haiken, "The Making of the Modern Face: Cosmetic Surgery," Social Research, Spring 2000. The American culture that produced cosmetic surgery is the increasingly visual, psychologically influenced culture of the twentieth century United States. For those surgeons who perform cosmetic surgery, the relationship between the physical face and the construction of individual identity has always been and continues to be central. "In our modern twentieth century United States, our attitudes toward cosmetic surgery have been based on a series of assumptions: that inside every person who looks different is an American struggling to get out; that inside every homely girl a confident girl is trying to emerge..." These surgeons, often known as "beauty doctors," argue that well-being is dependent on ...

... do with the person they are. This article is negative toward the cosmetic surgery procedure and the surgeons that perform it. This article also has a negative conclusion when discussing the genetic manipulation of fetus' to get a aesthetically pleasing child. (12.) I learned many things from this article. One of the things I found really interesting was the history behind cosmetic surgery. I find it amazing that even before all of the medical phenomenons of our modern society, cosmetic surgery was practiced as a way to repair the appearance of nose's once they were broken for committing adultery. A second fact that I thought was quite interesting was the fact that many people who

essay continues for another 100 words