Anthony Elliott

Plastic surgery in recent years has rapidly moved from something for those with physical deformities and the very rich to something more attainable for the general population. With this movement comes shifting notions of youth, economics and indulgence. Anthony Elliott presents a global cultural view of the cosmetic surgery industry as well as individuals’ shift in attitudes and justifications for undergoing the knife for vanity.

He begins by discussing the economic conditions that have given rise to such a culture. When the economy is healthy, there is an increased demand for cosmetic surgery. In addition, those already in leadership positions attempt to hold onto their status by being perceived as youthful, and loans can be fairly easily had to obtain the look of a leader. Add to that the fact that the cosmetic surgery industry is a multi-billion dollar global enterprise that continues to grow, and we see a formula for cosmetic surgical culture.

Elliott lays out the factors that he sees are responsible for creating a cosmetic surgical culture. First he considers the influence of the media and celebrities. Further he touches on the idea of self-reinvention and how this concept plays out in the lives of celebrities and trickles down to the masses. Second he discusses consumerism and the consumer industry’s role of playing upon fears and frustrations to sell temporary fixes that will keep the consumer coming back for more. Third, the author finds that globalization has contributed to cosmetic surgical culture by affecting individuals’ emotional lives. As our ways of working and living are changed due to globalization, we have lost our footing regarding values and norms. As individuals and as a society, there is an identity crisis going on and part of the new culture is the need to remake oneself to fit into the new context.

The larger questions concern what this culture has done to the psyche of the individual living today. Elliott loses me a bit when he delves into the psychoanalytic theory of loss, but his ideas are nevertheless intriguing. The way he sees it, globalization has created an economy of grief. The celebration of and yearning for youth, the annihilation of time, and the negation of death are the ways in which cosmetic surgical culture contains and represses grief.

This book had an interesting take on cosmetic surgery that brought together some disparate theories and viewpoints. Occasionally it was difficult to grasp just what the author was trying to convey because he seemed to be all over the map and some of his theses were half-baked. However, his insights provide another look at the phenomenon and a jumping off point to discuss this aspect of our broader cultural shift. He challenges our assumptions of the meaning of cosmetic surgery within a societal framework. He states, “Cosmetic surgical culture is one of excess, fear, disposability anxieties and melancholia.” (p. 19)… (más)