Medicalization is something that has become overly common all over the world. It seems as if almost everything, from aging to deviant behaviors, is medicalized. Human beings have a tendency to want things their way, so they strive to get what they desire. Little do people know “each instance of medicalization represents an advance in medicine’s control over the human body” (Ferrante Ch. 6). This may not seem like a serious problem, but as medicalization increases so does the chances of danger towards people’s lives.
If reports stated in Neto and Caponi’s article claim data “can’t be found in medical literature describing the anatomic details that make the body parts beautiful” Neto and Caponi 5), then why is society make it seem like there are strict standards for body type? “Beauty is the combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight” (Dictionary.com). Just as this definition says, beauty can come in many different shapes and sizes depending on how it is viewed. Sadly, everyone wants that unrealistic or “perfect” image. People continue to compare themselves to unreal stars they see through movies, on television, and in magazine advertisements. Most people today are never satisfied with what their see in the reflections in the mirror due to how society has changed the meaning of beauty to mean something that is ideal. They try to fit in with culture and social norms and fortunately for them, with the help of medicine and physicians, techniques have been created for them to receive the flawless look that society has characterized as normal and ideal. Although there are many resources—products, practices, and procedures short of surgery— for one’s desire to be beautif...
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Leve, Michelle, Lisa Rubin, and Andrea Pusic. "Cosmetic Surgery and Neoliberalisms: Managing Risk and Responsibility." Feminism & Psychology (n.d.): n. pag. Sage. Web. .
Merianos, Ashley L., Rebecca A. Vidourek, and Keith A. King. "Medicalization of Female Beauty: A Content Analysis of Cosmetic Procedures." The Qualitative Report 18.91 (n.d.): 1-14. Web. .
Neto, Paulo, and Sandra Caponi. "Medicalization of Beauty." Interface 11.23 (2007): n. pag. Web. .
"Reconstructive Procedures: Breast Reconstruction, Scar Revision, Skin Cancer." The American Society of Plastic Surgeons. ASPS, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. .
“Why do You Call it Plastic Surgery?” Fighting Ignorance since 1973. Web. 14 March 2014.
In today society, beauty in a woman seems to be the measured of her size, or the structure of her nose and lips. Plastic surgery has become a popular procedure for people, mostly for women, to fit in social class, race, or beauty. Most women are insecure about their body or face, wondering if they are perfect enough for the society to call the beautiful; this is when cosmetic surgery comes in. To fix what “needed” to be fixed. To begin with, there is no point in cutting your face or your body to add or remove something most people call ugly. “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery” explored the desire of human to become beyond perfection by the undergoing plastic surgery. The author, Camille Pagalia, took a look how now days how Americans are so obsessed
Sullivan, Deborah A. "Tightening the Bonds of Beauty." Cosmetic Surgery: The Cutting Edge of Commercial Medicine in America. N.p.: Rutgers UP, 2001. N. pag. Print.
...e gap in attitudes between pre-medicalized and modern time periods. The trends of technological advancement and human understanding project a completely medicalized future in which medical authorities cement their place above an intently obedient society.
Peter Conrad’s book, The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders, examined several cases of human conditions, once viewed as normal, now considered as medical issues. Conrad defined this transition of human problems to disorders that are medically defined, studied, diagnosed and treated as “medicalization”. Specifically, Conrad discussed certain conditions, such as adult ADHD, as age related phenomena that have been medicalized. Throughout, Conrad demonstrated how these issues became medically defined because of the current research and financing structure of medicine in the United States. Those newly defined illnesses changed people’s perceptions and expectations of health and old age, thus dramatically altering society’s expectations of medicine and subsequent life quality. Conrad’s ethnography is a good example of the ethnomedical approach to medical anthropology that addressed several health conditions that are prominent in the United States. He culminated his book by arguing medicalization primarily serves as a form of social control, solving problems with individuals and not society. While the book clearly explained a wide range of negative causes and effects of medicalization, Conrad only acknowledged a few examples of successful resistance briefly in his last chapter. In order to empower its readers beyond education, the book should have examined these instances of anti-medicalization to find similarities and derive productive countermeasures for individuals to follow. Conrad thoroughly outlined the history, examples and influencing factors that promote medicalization, but failed to offer any combative solution to the resulting problems of medicalization.
Stoll, David M.. "Medical and Surgical Approaches to Cosmetic Problems." A woman's skin. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994. 109-180. Print.
First and foremost, addressing the use of cosmetic or, in this sense more aptly, aesthetic surgery for restoration and reparation of human anatomy damaged by unfortunate incidents, it is common to come to a consensus where people are agreeable to the sur...
Medicine as a Form of Social Control This critique will examine the view that medicine is a form of social control. There are many theorists that have different opinions on this view. This critique will discuss each one and their different views. We live in a society where there is a complex division of labour and where enormous varieties of specialist healing roles are recognised.
Constantly, people are exposed to pictures of models on the covers of and inside of magazines who have perfect skin and what society believes to be a perfect body. The media has greatly changed what we think
Marcus, Miriam. “Ten Plastic Surgical Risks You Need To Know.” Forbes, n.p. 10 October 2007. Web. 17 February 2012.
Nowadays, since the number of procedures increases, cosmetic surgery has rapidly developed all over the world. According to an annual report of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in 2015, the United States is the biggest market of cosmetic surgery in the world. Near 16 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the U.S. in 2015, with the five most common surgeries being breast augmentation, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, liposuction and tummy tuck (“Plastic Surgery Procedures”).
Flipping through the pages of Vogue's latest edition, 23 year-old Susan seems quite upset. She struggles with the thought of lacking the perfect body and delicate features in order to be considered attractive. Surprisingly, Susan is not alone in this kind of an internal struggle. In contemporary society, every other woman aspires to have the lips of Angelina Jolie and the perfect jaw line of Keira Knightley. Society today looks down upon individuals that do not fit in, whether in terms of body shape or facial attractiveness. This forces them to consider the option of 'ordering beauty.' Since cosmetic surgery is no longer a social taboo in America given its widespread popularity, more people are promoting it which ultimately affects the rest of the world due to the unwavering influence of American culture. Cosmetic surgery should be deterred in the US because it promotes the idea of valuing appearance over ability, gives rise to unrealistic expectations, and brings with it high cost to society.
Colins, Joan. N.d..”The Pro’s and Con’s of Plastic Surgery”. Retrieved on January 28th, 2008. From http://cseserv.engr,scu.edu/StudentWebPages/KNguyen/researchpaper.htm
According to Foucault and Illich (in Van Krieken et al. 2006: 351-352), doctors and the medical profession have traditionally been empowered by their knowledge as the authority that society defers to with regards to the definition of disease and health. With improvements in medical technology as well as the advent of the hospital, an evolution...
There has been a substantial increase in cosmetic surgery being performed on individuals to enhance their looks leading to perception of beauty being changed in society. Many people who receive cosmetic surgery claimed that the surgery has improved their overall mental and physical well being. We must understand that, the most crucial and motivating factor of people wanting cosmetic surgery is through body image. There is two components of constructs in body image, body image through orientation, refers to how important the body is to the person. The second leading factor for cosmetic surgery is body image evaluation,