The body consumed: Reflexivity and cosmetic surgery

Abstract

We live in a time with increasing focus on the body and its perfection. The marketing environment is replete with products and services catering to the health, well-being, and beauty of bodies and, it is implied, of our souls. One of the more drastic and consequently also much debated and, at times, tabooed type of service and consumption within this field is cosmetic surgery. This article is based on interviews with 15 women who have had cosmetic operations. It examines what motivated their decision to have surgery; some of their thoughts and feelings before, during and after the process; and the ways in which the operation has influenced their life and self-identity subsequently. The material is analysed within a theoretical framework resting mainly on Anthony Giddens' work on self-identity in late modernity. This implies that cosmetic surgery is understood to be part of the individual's reflexive construction of self-identity, and leads to a focus on issues such as self-determination, self-esteem, and the relationship between body and identity. Finally, some relations between self-identity and the marketing institution are discussed. ᭧

Strategy narratives and wellbeing challenges: The role of everyday self-presentation

“…The dynamic and transitional nature of these narratives leads the individual down different pathways in response to a variety of interactional demands. These findings corroborate and broaden recent literature on how wellbeing is achieved through different personal "growth stories" driven by intrinsic or extrinsic rewards (Bauer et al 2008), and prior work that emphasizes the why of consumption for understanding managing the self in everyday interaction (Askegaard et al 2002;Thompson and Hirschman 1995;Tian and Belk 2005).…”

“…The present research chose cosmetics as the empirical context because the product category is central to women's consumer culture, represents an essential, yet mundane, means of self-reinvention and transformation, and allows women to articulate different aspects of the self at ease, including both positive and negative (Coulter, Price, and Feick 2003). In addition, unlike more dramatic measures such as plastic surgery (Askegaard et al 2002), the temporal and noninvasive nature of cosmetics allows an investigation of the daily management of the self in response to a variety of interactional demands.…”

I Did it For Me: Negotiating identity and agency

“…Interview-based studies (Askegaard et al, 2002;Davis, 1995;Gimlin, 2007Gimlin, , 2010 often cite stories by women who say they chose to have cosmetic surgery to please themselves, not others. Women, however, see themselves in two divergent ways.…”

Esperança: construção e tese de um modelo teórico da sua influência no processo de compra do consumidor de cirurgia plástica estética.

“…De fato, grande número de mulheres -e crescente de homens -que podem pagar por isso, parecem ser mais dispostos a considerar a cirurgia plástica estética como forma de melhorar seu aspecto, fazendo com que o número delas, incluindo pequenos procedimentos invasivos, tenha crescido na população na última década (SARWER e CASH, 2008;ASKEGAARD, GERTSEN e LANGER, 2002). Cirurgia plástica para a real melhoria do corpo levou a um verdadeiro "boom" na cirurgia plástica estética, como uma espécie de correção estética tecnológica, tendo obtido avanços na área da medicina no sentido de minimizar risco e melhorar a performance em relação ao resultado (WILLIAMS, 1997).…”

“…Porém, consideram que é de grande interesse a avaliação do consumidor e como melhor conduzi-los, uma vez que a Central to the National Health Service (NHS) já tem definido que estes pacientes são consumidores (SARWER et al, 2008;ASKEGAARD, GERTSEN e LANGER, 2002;BATCHELOR et al, 1994). Portanto, entender como a esperança nesse processo de compra pode influenciar para minimizar os riscos e a ansiedade inerentes a ele, bem como a confiança em relação ao prestador do serviço, ou seja, o médico, e consequentemente a satisfação com o resultado, torna-se um desafio.…”