Modifying the Body: Canadian Men's Perspectives on Appearance and Cosmetic Surgery

Abstract

In postmodern scholarship there has been a temporal shift to thinking of the body as malleable rather than fixed, which has opened space for the remaking of the self via the remaking of the body (Featherstone, 1991; Giddens, 1991). Among men, this process is thought to interact with shifting understandings of masculinity. In this study, 14 interviews were conducted to investigate experiences of masculinity, physical appearance and cosmetic surgery among Canadian men who had undergone or were contemplating cosmetic surgery. Responses suggest that bodily presentations and experiences of masculinity continue to influence how people feel about themselves and their perspective toward cosmetic surgery. Findings are discussed in relation to contemporary constructions of masculinity, body, and identity.

How forensic mental health nurses’ perspectives of their patients can bias healthcare: A qualitative review of nursing documentation

“…A codebook was constructed a priori to the data analysis but involved a structured process of drawing themes from the notes, with subthemes to constitute a comprehensive coding schedule to follow. Each theme was operationalised and was mutually exclusive from the next; themes continued to be documented in the codebook until reviewing the notes revealed no new themes from the data; this process was consistent with a semi-grounded (Glaser & Strauss, 1967;Ricciardelli, Clow, & White, 2010;Ricciardelli & White, 2011) approach but with elements of constructed grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006). After the codebook was finalised, and theme saturation ensured, all notes were coded anew by two independent researchers.…”

It’s time for men to groom up!

“…Men must groom to improve not only their bodies but also their relationships, families, social status (Khuong and Duyen, 2016;Scheibling and Lafrance, 2019) and professional performances (Cheh, 2014;Girdwichai et al, 2018;Hall et al, 2012;McNeill and Douglas, 2011;Oliveira Júnior and Cancela, 2012;Rangakaputi, 2017;Scheibling and Lafrance, 2019). Nevertheless, men still tend to adopt their beauty practices discreetly to avoid stigma and maintain distance from the feminine world (Chiu et al, 2019;Fontes et al, 2012;McNeill and Douglas, 2011;Ricciardelli and White, 2011).…”

‘The Lay Gaze’—Rural Norwegian men’s assessment of others’ health based on pictures

“…Hence, the men in this relate body appearance to health which might be understood to relate to findings in other studies where men have been found to be increasingly preoccupied with body appearance (e.g. Drummond, 2002;Frost, 2003;Hervik & Fasting, 2016;Ricciardelli & White, 2011) and to relate body appearance to health (Hervik, 2016;Hervik & Fasting, 2016).…”

“…However, even if existing research establishes that 'real men' should not be concerned about their appearance, studies have shown that males are, in fact, increasingly preoccupied with their bodily appearance (e.g. Drummond, 2002;Frost, 2003;Hervik & Fasting, 2016;Ricciardelli & White, 2011). However, little research has been carried out on how masculinity forms and how men value or assess other's bodies.…”