The Ethics of Seeking Body Perfection, with Continual Reference to Heidi Montag

2015 ◽  
pp. 2083-2111
Author(s):  
Brett Lunceford
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
The Body ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Individual

In an increasingly visual society, beauty may seem only skin deep. This chapter considers the ethics of cosmetic surgery through the lens of posthumanism, a stance that suggests that defects of the body can be overcome through technology. Cosmetic surgery, with its reliance on prostheses and promise of reshaping the body, is, at its heart, a posthuman enterprise. Although many have engaged in cosmetic surgery, actress Heidi Montag became an exemplar of reshaping the body by undergoing ten different plastic surgery procedures in one day. Using Montag as foil, this chapter examines four ethical dimensions of cosmetic surgery: the ethics of the medical professionals who perform and advertise these procedures, the ethics of the individual making the decision, the ethics of the media structures that promote a homogenous ideal of beauty, and the ethics of those who tacitly approve of such procedures.

The Ethics of Seeking Body Perfection, with Continual Reference to Heidi Montag

2014 ◽  
pp. 67-95
Author(s):  
Brett Lunceford
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
The Body ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Individual

In an increasingly visual society, beauty may seem only skin deep. This chapter considers the ethics of cosmetic surgery through the lens of posthumanism, a stance that suggests that defects of the body can be overcome through technology. Cosmetic surgery, with its reliance on prostheses and promise of reshaping the body, is, at its heart, a posthuman enterprise. Although many have engaged in cosmetic surgery, actress Heidi Montag became an exemplar of reshaping the body by undergoing ten different plastic surgery procedures in one day. Using Montag as foil, this chapter examines four ethical dimensions of cosmetic surgery: the ethics of the medical professionals who perform and advertise these procedures, the ethics of the individual making the decision, the ethics of the media structures that promote a homogenous ideal of beauty, and the ethics of those who tacitly approve of such procedures.

scholarly journals Thoughts on the Ageing Body

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Ghillani
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The Body ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Artificial Image ◽  
The Media ◽  
Ageing Body ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Positive Representations

AbstractRecent studies have taken into account the fact that the lives of older people have changed drastically in the past fifty years. Older people today engage more with society and are also expected to maintain an active role in their communities. In order to maintain a positive social status, todays older adults need both to challenge negative stereotypes and also to achieve the “unachievable” positive representations in the media. Society plays a complex game of bodily images: the artificial image of the human body in the media, the image that individuals try to project, and the image that society reflects back to the individual. When the three don’t coincide, the collision creates a distancing effect. To truly understand the lived experiences of older adults in contemporary society we must explore the changing perceptions of the body. This review will illustrate the arguments both classical and contemporary through an exploration of the ageing female body, which remains the focus of most of the literature.

Surgeon, Media, Society, Patient

2018 ◽  
pp. 197-225
Author(s):  
Brett Lunceford
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Respect For Autonomy ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Society ◽  
Ethical Failures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Made In

For many, cosmetic surgery holds the promise that one can reshape his or her body to remove perceived defects and thus have a more perfect body. However, the decision to undergo elective cosmetic surgery is not made in a vacuum, and it is easy to overlook the full range of ethical considerations surrounding cosmetic surgery. Many medical ethicists subscribe to an ethical code that centers mainly on the relationship between the doctor and patient, with a focus on respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. This chapter builds on this framework by extending the scope of actors to include not only the surgeon and the patient but also the media and the overall society. To illustrate this framework, the author uses the example of actress Heidi Montag, who underwent 10 different plastic surgery procedures in one day. The chapter concludes with a discussion of potential correctives for ethical failures in each of these areas.

scholarly journals The Divine Proportion’s Incidence in Facial and Dental Aesthetics

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Oprea Valentin BUSU ◽  
Elena Cristina ANDREI
Keyword(s):  
Dental Treatment ◽  
Young Patients ◽  
The Body ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Patient Dissatisfaction ◽  
Dental Aesthetics ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
The Individual

As a science, facial and dental aesthetics is highly complex, the dentist being compelled to effectively exploit his abilities of reconstructing affected tissues, but also cultivate his aesthetic sense. Nowadays, dentists frequently face the patients high expectations, regarding dental structure and facial reconstruction. Most young patients tend to choose their model from the media, while patients over the age of 50 desire to have teeth like those of youth. It should also be noted that there is no concept of „cosmetic dentistry” as the teeth can only be adjusted in corellation to the face and body appearance. Thus, between physiognomy and the general appearance of the body and of the teeth a state of interdependence is in existence. One of the major errors that leads to endangering the quality of dental treatment and to patient dissatisfaction is the way in which the doctor-patient relationship is managed. If a person opts for an aesthetic treatment it is clear that it is facing a low self-esteem, in this case the dentist needing to address the disorder on two coordinates: an objective interpretation involves the sequencing of reconstructing a morphological and functional dentition and and establishing the issues related to patients notion of „beautiful”. At the same time, aesthetic dental treatment is based on the personality of the individual, the age, sex and patient's systemic diseases. The notion of „divine proportion” makes possible to perform „perfect” dental works that integrate the facial and somatic features, whose basic characteristics are symmetry, balance, continuity.

La medicalizzazione della bruttezza

2009 ◽  
pp. 75-85
Author(s):  
Rossella Ghigi
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Body Shape ◽  
The Body ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Qualitative Survey ◽  
Patient Interactions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ideal Body ◽  
Physician Patient

- The history of Western scientific and philosophical thought with regard to the human body is marked by a fascination for establishing the parameters of an ideal body shape. During the nineteenth century physiognomy and cosmetic surgery both took inspiration from the illusion of perfect geometrization of the body and its parameterization. The legitimation of cosmetic surgery, in particular, was based on the medicalization of deviations from ideal forms (normal and normative at the same time) of the body, producing the body as an object operable in potentia. This still occurs today particularly in physician-patient interactions and in media discourse. Through an analysis of cosmetic surgery texts (produced respectively by the most important Italian society for plastic surgery, a clinic and a handbook of cosmetic plastic surgery for surgeons) repertoires reading physical appearance through the lenses of normality and pathology are investigated. Based on a qualitative survey of plastic surgeons, the inertia encountered by the process of medicalization of ugliness in everyday practice is discussed.Keywords: cosmetic surgery, medicalization, social costruction of the body, ugliness, normalizationParole chiave: chirurgia estetica, medicalizzazione, costruzione sociale del corpo, bruttezza, normalizzazione

Ethical Dimensions of Cosmetic Surgery

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-47
Author(s):  
Brett Lunceford
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
The Media ◽  
Ethical Failures ◽  
Made In

The promise of cosmetic surgery is that one can reshape his or her body to remove perceived defects and thus have a perfect body. Although in practice this is not always the result, many continue to pursue this potential. One extreme example of this impulse is actress Heidi Montag, who underwent ten different plastic surgery procedures in one day. But the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery is not made in a vacuum. Individuals are influenced by others, including the media, the surgeons, and themselves. This essay uses Montag's experience to explore four ethical considerations surrounding cosmetic surgery—the surgeon, the patient, the media, and society—and concludes with a discussion of potential correctives for ethical failures in each of these areas.

The Medicalization of Ugliness

2009 ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
Rossella Ghigi
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Body Shape ◽  
The Body ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Qualitative Survey ◽  
Patient Interactions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ideal Body ◽  
Physician Patient

- The history of Western scientific and philosophical thought with regard to the human body is marked by a fascination for establishing the parameters of an ideal body shape. During the nineteenth century physiognomy and cosmetic surgery both took inspiration from the illusion of perfect geometrization of the body and its parameterization. The legitimation of cosmetic surgery, in particular, was based on the medicalization of deviations from ideal forms (normal and normative at the same time) of the body, producing the body as an object operable in potentia. This still occurs today particularly in physician-patient interactions and in media discourse. Through an analysis of cosmetic surgery texts (produced respectively by the most important Italian society for plastic surgery, a clinic and a handbook of cosmetic plastic surgery for surgeons) repertoires reading physical appearance through the lenses of normality and pathology are investigated. Based on a qualitative survey of plastic surgeons, the inertia encountered by the process of medicalization of ugliness in everyday practice is discussed.Keywords: cosmetic surgery, medicalization, social costruction of the body, ugliness, normalizationParole chiave: chirurgia estetica, medicalizzazione, costruzione sociale del corpo, bruttezza, normalizzazione

scholarly journals Ethical Issues in Cosmetic Surgery for Women: Self-Actualization or Manipulation?

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Nurulfatmi Amzy
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
The Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Self Actualization

The technology of plastic surgery has been beneficial to mankind around the world. Plastic surgery can help people to retain and regain the function on some part of the body that was damaged. However, plastic surgery came with a handful of ethical issues. With the ability to alter one’s own body, many women sought to use this technology to beautify themselves. This part of technology then later was named as cosmetic surgery. By the reasoning of self-autonomy and free will, a person can easily alter their own physique according to their own will. This paper aimed to analyze this phenomenon based on philosophical thoughts regarding aesthetic purpose where it argued that beauty is a construction of media and society, not a construction that came from within one’s self. This paper argued that cosmetic surgery technology preyed upon women and instead of firming the position of self-autonomy and free will; it degrades women as a human of free will. The over-application of technology will only objectify women and it poses a danger as it can be used as a tool to satisfy certain interests

scholarly journals Corpus absconditum: imagens do Oriente e ideologia na representação do corpo feminino na imprensa

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 700
Author(s):  
Alberto Carlos Augusto Klein ◽  
Dulce Mazer
Keyword(s):  
Female Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Edward Said ◽  
International Media ◽  
Islamic Tradition ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Religious Aspects

Em 11 de outubro de 2010 foi aprovada na França uma lei que proíbe o uso de vestimentas que cubram integralmente o rosto, impedindo o reconhecimento do indivíduo, o que afetou diretamente o costume islâmico de vestir a burqa ou o niqab. Tal decisão provocou intenso debate na mídia internacional do mesmo modo que suscitou discussões sobre o lugar do corpo na religião e na cultura. A partir do conceito de orientalismo de Edward Said, este trabalho compara duas formas de representação do corpo intensamente mobilizadas pela imprensa ocidental. Assim, este artigo aborda a negação da visibilidade do corpo feminino na cultura islâmica e sua redução a determinados estereótipos em contraste com a superexposição corporal da mulher ocidental. Além dos aspectos culturais e religiosos que distanciam ambas as representações, este trabalho propõe que a intolerância ocidental diante do corpus absconditum advém do valor de visibilidade propagado pela sociedade midiática do Ocidente, particularmente pela imprensa. Palavras-chave: Comunicação; Corpo feminino; Islamismo. Corpus absconditum: images of the East and ideology in the representation of the female body in the press AbstraRAct On October 11, 2010 a law that prohibits the use of clothing that fully cover the face was approved in France, preventing there cognition of the individual, which directly affected the Islamic tradition of wearing the burqa or niqab. This decision provoked intense debate in the international media the same way that triggered discussions about the place and role of the body in religion and culture. Inspired by the concept of orientalism of Edward Said, this paper compares two ways of representing the body highlighted by western press. Thus, this article discusses the denial of the visibility of the female body in Islamic culture and its reduction to certain stereotypes in contrast to the body overexposure of western women. Besides the cultural and religious aspects that set both kinds of representation apart, this study suggests that the western intolerance of the corpus absconditum derives as well from the visibility value propagated by the media society of the West, particularly by the press. Keywords: Communication; Female body; Islam.

General principles and techniques

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Simon Kay ◽  
David McCombe
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Birth Defects ◽  
The Body ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Diagnosis And Treatment ◽  
Tissue Type ◽  
Congenital Defects ◽  
Detailed Understanding ◽  
Form Function ◽  
The Individual

Plastic surgery pursues the amelioration of acquired or congenital defects, to restore both function and form. Uniquely among surgical specialties, plastic surgery is defined by concept rather than by tissue or anatomical region. The concepts and techniques that are its foundation may be applied throughout the body irrespective of tissue type, to reconstruct or repair deficiencies resulting from trauma, disease, or birth defects. To the uninformed, it appears a solely technical specialty, but in truth, the interactions between form, function, and human behaviour are so intimate that diagnosis and treatment must consider each of these aspects. In particular, it requires a detailed understanding of human behaviour and its variants in a wide variety of circumstances to treat the individual effectively.

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