Natalie Bennett

This article discusses the media's new found celebration of plastic surgery. It discusses, in particular, the ABC television program, Extreme Makeover. This show takes people, after having been selected through a carful application process, to be essentially transformed by the hands of surgeons all taken care of by the EM budget. The contestants have to write in telling the EM team what they would like to change about themselves and their reasons for this desire. The team then chooses from this pool the person who is somehow most deserving of this makeover and brings them on, away from their family and friends for weeks, to change their entire bodies, wardrobes, and hair/makeup. What I found most disturbing, though, was that not only do these participants get the surgeries they've asked for in their applications, but they also receive suggestions from the team of surgeons for more procedures! I thought the idea of this was to help people to feel better about themselves by changing or 'fixing' the parts of their body they found most troublesome, but it is no way helpful to tell someone that there are parts of their body, ones they've never even noticed as an issue, that are so horrible to even look at that they need to be immediately altered through extreme surgery! All I'm seeing is a show that causes body image issues by making these contestants, and even the viewers, keenly aware of every little slip up in the creation of their bodies. I thought the idea was to make people feel more beautiful, not to create surgery addicts who lack any self esteem and don't hesitate for a second to go back under the knife. 

The idea that Brazil has made plastic surgery available to everyone is very very bad. I think the fact that there was once a very high price for these procedures put one more very important barrier between them and most people. I don't think I need to explain how horrible these surgeries can be, so I think the less people who have access to them, the better. Keeping the recipients to a select makes it harder for them to be completely normalized, people don't feel that they have to participate because most people don't. But when these surgeries are available to everyone and at no cost, you no longer have an excuse not to partake. If there is something on your body other people may see as an issue, you would be expected to take care of it because there shouldn't be anything keeping you from that surgery.

Sarah Wills

Normal Extremes: Cosmetic Surgery Television

The article Normal Extremes: Cosmetic Surgery Television discusses the

controversial topic of plastic surgery. The rate of plastic surgery in America has significantly increased over the past few decades. Although plastic surgery is still disapproved by the majority of society, the author offers a new perspective. Plastic surgery may seem only skin deep, but there are serious internal conflicts surrounding the issue. For example, Luke, a formerly obese man, completely transformed his way of living. He changed from a lethargic, unmotivated person, to a health conscious, active new man. Despite the change of lifestyle and major weight loss, Luke still had excess skin and flab as a result of his weight loss. His body didn’t represent the new, transformed Luke. Rather, it still portrayed a heavy, unmotivated person. Therefore, plastic surgery helped Luke look and feel like a new man. One statement I found interesting is that when Marilynda went through her physical transformation to enhance her beauty, the author stated that she would probably never go back to walmart. This statement makes is sound like just because Marilynda is now “pretty”, she is over qualified to work at walmart. The article also details the physical risks that come along with plastic surgery.  The television program shows the painful recoveries that the patients have. It demonstrates how it isn’t just easy to have plastic surgery, but there is a whole process that the patients must go through.

            Why is plastic surgery not socially acceptable? Despite the arguments that the author makes about the benefits of plastic surgery, there are still negative aspects of transforming physical looks. Socioeconomics is a factor when it comes to plastic surgery. Being able to modify physical characteristics is not a necessity, therefore people who don’t have the means to do so, cannot have the surgery. This causes a split between the upper class and the lower class.

‘The poor have the right to be beautiful’: cosmetic surgery in neoliberal Brazil

            This article discusses the growing trend of plastic surgery in Brazil. Also, how plastic surgery relates to the socio-economic status of the people in Brazil. It is evident that plastic surgery is much more socially acceptable in Brazil rather than in the United States. Brazilians view plastic surgery as women taking control of their bodies and gaining power. For example, a prettier woman is more likely to get a job, therefore plastic surgery enhances employment possibilities. So, this is why is some places plastic surgery is made feasible for people of a lower class. As the article states, there is a split between two sectors of wealth and the health-care system is divided within the country. This creates many problems amongst the people of Brazil and causes inequalities. So, some people are given a better shot at economic success with regards to cosmetic surgery.

            Personally, I feel that the emphasis on physical appearance in Brazil is creating a bigger split between the different social classes. Ideally, a person who is best fit for a position would get the job over some one that is more aesthetically pleasing. The article makes s clear that this is not the case in Brazil, Therefore, rather than providing the funds for plastic surgery, maybe a societal change would be more beneficial to the economic growth of the country

Lily Cannon

In the article “Surgery Junkies” by Victoria Pitts-Taylor she discusses the television show Extreme Makeover. This reality show takes ordinary people and pay for them to get cosmetic surgery. The surgeries are performed by real surgeons and “the participants would not only be given the rhinoplasty, tummy tuck or breast lift they especially wanted but they would also get a whole range of additional procedures that would beautify them.” (41) Throughout this article Taylor brings up different peoples experiences one being Luke. Luke is a personal trainer and before that had been obese and worked hard to lose 125 pounds, still having excess skin he still believed that it wasn’t good enough. With the help of EM he was able to get rid of that skin, along with that came teeth whitening, hair implants and more. I personally believe in plastic surgery but to an extent. In Lukes case I believe having surgery to remove the excess skin was acceptable since he did all that hard work to lose that weight and become a healthier person but adding multiple other surgeries I don’t agree with. At the end of the show he is then revealed to his family and friends coming out looking like a totally different person. This complete makeover I don’t believe in, I think changing your whole appearance and striving for perfection is not the right thing to do and is unrealistic to the rest of the world. Thus bringing us to the topic of the media and how it is the reason why more and more people in America are getting surgery.

By the end of the article we understand the pain and suffering these people went through that only was shown for a couple minutes. Again going back to Luke’s experience he “can’t even get out of bed after his abdonminoplasty”. (55) Although we aren’t shown what these people go through I still think that we would have somewhat of an idea and not be surprised after reading this article. More and more people are getting surgery even after hearing about the excruciating pain that these people go through and this just proves again how the norm is changing and sooner or later it will be “weird” to have not gotten a boob job or some other surgery.

“The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful” talks about plastic surgery as well, but in Brazil and how popular it is there. Reading through this article we find out the Brazilian government pays for the poor to get surgery instead of psychological support because they believe it will help their self-esteem. I do not agree with what they are doing in Brazil but what the surprising part about this technique is that it is proven to work. It doesn’t matter your social status or how much money you have everyone strives to be perfect and want the sexuality that is seen in Brazil. An example of this would be Aline; she gets breast implants to help her at work so she makes more money. This is a typical desire that woman want, that sadly may help them get farther in life than someone with smaller breasts. Growing up my friends and I would always joke around about getting a boob job to feel more feminine but I would never act apone it. Overall plastic surgery is getting more popular and growing all over the world not just in America and Brazil. 

Anna Grofik-Surgery Junkies & The Poor have the right to be beautiful

Anna Grofik

Surgery Junkies

This article begins by discussing the popular reality television show, Extreme Makeover, and the ways in which the shows achieves its popularity. The personal accounts of ‘real people’ serve to connect the character with the viewer and their experiences of ‘revealing their inner selves’ offer an emotionally deep journey that would seem to be out of place on a show concerned with shallow appearance.

The show’s main idea is that the participants are not in their ‘real body’; rather they are in a body that needs to be transformed in order to become a better version of their inner self. I think this paradox is a way to mask the hypocrisy in cosmetic surgery by offering a spiritually renewing idea that you are not your true self unless you look the way you desire, forgetting your natural born body altogether. While reading the accounts of some of the participants’ Extreme Makeover experiences, I noticed that words such as wrong, broken, ugly, distorted or marred were used to describe the ‘old bodies’. I believe these words, along with self-hatred, form the foundations of the cosmetic surgery market demand. In the article, the cosmetic surgery phenomenon is compared to winning the lottery and the pain is described as being ‘worth it’ to achieve one’s ‘dream-come-true’ transformation. On the Extreme Makeover, pain is minimized to the effect that the focus is not on the means of transformation, but rather the benefits of it. I agree with Michelle, a cosmetic surgery patient, that the show’s depiction of cosmetic surgery is “a kind of deceptive marketing”. By glossing over the reality of the invasive and risky nature of this surgery in reality television, reports show that the number of surgeries has increased significantly. The cosmetic surgery industry denies that the show has been the main factor in this increase; rather they allot this change to an increase in public awareness of the industry itself.

In the article, cosmetic surgery is described as a practice that “pathologizes the body in order to claim the psychological wellness of its participants”. Promoting the ideology of “have the outer beauty match the inner beauty” is a main component of the industry. In my opinion, changing the outer beauty through cosmetic surgery devalues personal beauty.

The Poor have the Right to be Beautiful

            This article discusses the major prevalence of cosmetic surgery in Brazil, focusing specifically on economically disadvantaged Brazilians and their desire for what they call “plastica”, cosmetic surgeries. This idea is so commonplace that they treat it as a practice of self-care and a right that everyone should have. 

             There are public hospitals that federally support these surgeries at no cost at all. As mentioned in the article, with Brazil’s lacking health system, I don’t believe that cosmetic surgeries should be frivolously given away with zero cost. A Brazilian news magazine coined the article title, ‘Brazil, empire of the scalpel’, a circumstance that brought attention to Brazil as a major ‘champion’ of cosmetic surgery. I also found it interesting that the growth of plastica is viewed as an indicator of economic growth in Brazil. Reading Denise’s story and how the doctor referred to her principal illness as poverty as a reason for him to perform her cosmetic surgery was disheartening. To consider cosmetic surgery a route to happiness for a disadvantaged person makes me realize why this is an epidemic among the poor in Brazil. The article raises a great point in questioning why do we not use psychologists to treat these troubled psyches instead of cosmetic surgery. Some surgeons argue that they can change everything while psychologists change nothing. The article then goes on to discuss how some Brazilians use cosmetic surgery as a way to ‘get ahead’ in life or to raise their social stature. The article also discusses the concept of a ‘racialized beauty myth’ and how the ideals of beauty and race are combined in a very specific image that transfers to the types of cosmetic surgeries such as attention to ‘filling out’ the lower body. This preference was strange to read about seeing as though we discuss the restrictions on the female lower body in the U.S. I was shocked to read about Brazilian concerns about ‘racial mixing’ and the doctors’ opinions that different racial characteristics sometimes make an ‘ugly combination’. The fact that racial characteristics are erased by cosmetic surgery is a monstrous occurrence in my opinion. By rejecting your racial characteristics, I feel that you reject your ethnicity and culture. 

             The article concludes that modern medicine, notions of health and changes in sexual and social relationships, in addition to the beauty myth, fuel the fire of cosmetic surgery in Brazil. As mentioned in class, the article discusses the fact that most people undergoing cosmetic surgery just want to look normal, not necessarily beautiful. However, there is attention paid to being sexier and fulfilling female ideals of beauty. The article speaks of beauty as having a democratic appeal, something that can be obtained by all. This idea may hold the key to the idea that ‘the poor have the right to be beautiful’.

Charlotte Sargent

Surgery Junkies and The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful

Plastic surgery has become the solution to fixing self-esteem, weight, and body issues. Many people turn to surgery to solve their bodily insecurities, and it is becoming more and more common. In the article “Surgery Junkies,” it describes how people are getting more surgery because of the influence from the media and television, and getting surgery makes them feel like an entirely new and confident person; the person they truly are. In the article “The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful,” it talks about surgery becoming mainstream, especially among those who are in lower classes or of poverty in Brazil.

            In the article “Surgery Junkies,” it talks about the television show “Extreme Makeover.” This T.V. show is all about completely remaking someone into the person that they want to be, by performing plastic surgery. This article told the stories of a number of people who participated in this show. For example, one story was of a woman named Stacey, she was always extremely insecure and unconfident about how manly she was and she had no profile or chin. She went through major surgery to rebuild her face, which also remade her hope for happiness, love, and confidence. Stacy described how she was “really nervous, but excited to know that I’m starting my new life” (47). This shows how because of plastic surgery, Stacey was able to completely reinvent herself to become a happier person, “now men will see Stacey for the real woman she is, instead of the mannish, unfeminine person suggested by her old visage” (48). “Extreme Makeover” gives the idea to people that they can be “who they really are” by getting surgery. If you aren’t confident or happy with yourself, you can always change it. This is a horrible idea to put into peoples minds and this is what causes people to have insecurities and to never feel like they are good enough or beautiful. What “Extreme Makeover” fails to show the audience is the pain, trauma, healing process, and recovery involved in these major surgeries. It usually goes from the before the surgery to the “Big Reveal.” Many people on the show did not expect the recovery to be so prolonged and uncomfortable. This TV show portrays just the benefits and positives of the surgeries and does not tell of the negatives. This show sends the message that people have the choice to alter their bodies in order to look their ideal or unrealistic selves.

In the article “The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful,” it focuses on the rapid increase in plastic surgery in Brazil. It has become highly common for people to get plastic surgery because they are unhappy with the way they look. Doctors in Brazil are much more willing to perform surgeries in order to boost peoples self-esteem and to improve a persons psychological health. “The notion that appearance is integrally linked to the psyche became publicly accepted” (367). Doctors also know that the principal illness for those who desire plastic surgery is poverty. They know that those who do not live in wealth don’t have the access or guidance to staying fit and healthy. People who are poor focus more on their beauty than their success in other areas of life because looking attractive is more beneficial to how they feel about themselves. The poor also see what the rich people have and do, such as how they get plastic surgery, and they want the same things. “We operate on the poor who have the chance to improve their appearance and it’s a necessity not a vanity” (367). The poor have access to these surgeries and want to fix all of their insecurities. Not only are the doctors supportive, the media is also very positive about the growth of plastic surgery. “Some stories cite the international reputation of Brazilian surgeons as a point of national pride. Others view the growth of plastica as an indicator of economic health” (365). The media puts pride in plastic surgery and the work the doctors are capable of doing, which is portrayed to people all over Brazil, making them see it as positive as well. The plastic surgeons in Brazil think that they are basically a gift from god because of how much they can help and change people. This article also focused on “racial mixing.” Doctors claimed that because of miscegenation, the appearance of the Brazilian population was improving. One doctor recommended sun tanning because it would democratically darken Brazilians. The people in the country of Brazil view plastic surgery as a way to make oneself become beautiful, therefore causing cosmetic surgery to become a norm.

I think it is honestly horrible how much the increase in plastic surgery has gone up. The fact that people can and want to change themselves in so many ways is astounding to me. I think its one thing if it truly is a severe insecurity that is affecting someone’s life or if it is just one small operation that will make a person much happier and more confident, but the fact that people can reconstruct themselves is shocking. The media sends the message that in order to make yourself beautiful, get surgery. People now rely on surgery to be happier in life and I think it is actually really sad. The idea of beauty has completely changed and it is scary to think of how far people will go. People need to learn that plastic surgery is not the answer nor is it a social norm, and it is not the ideal way to make themselves feel better or more confident. The idea of beauty has only gotten worse over the years, I can’t imagine how people are going to feel and in what ways they will alter their bodies in years to come. 

TJ Brady

The two readings this week, "Normal Extremes" and "The Poor have the right to be beautiful"  show two different, less publicized views of plastic surgery.  

"Normal Extremes" discusses the TV show Extreme Makeover and its impact on the public's views of plastic surgery.  Extreme Makeover is a show where contestants win makeovers which change their lives for the better.  Since this show aired there has been an increase in cosmetic surgery in the United States because this type of surgery has become more acceptable in the public's view.  The show selects participants, which have less than stellar lives, and gives them makeovers which they could have never afforded, which will hopefully lead to a new, happier life.  One example of this was with Luke.  He claimed that he wanted to get cosmetic surgery to express his true inner self.  He had lost 125 pounds but had excess and saggy skin, which he believed was holding him back.  During his transformation, he got an abdominoplasty, rhinoplasty, teeth whitener, and hair transplant.  During his big reveal, everyone rejoiced and Luke and his family and friends were overwhelmingly please with his results.  This is the picture perfect show that the media and producers want the viewer to see.  These types of show's are very appealing to viewers because they can more easily relate to the shows because they are real people.  The people also sympathize with this show because the people claim to just want to be normal and accepted, which is something many people can understand.  Although this show may seem great, there is a problem with it.  The show minimizes the physical pain and trauma that the contestants undergo.  6 weeks of rehabilitation will be shown for 2 minutes and a 2 day surgery will air for one minute.  The conscious decisions by the producers to show only a little of the negative aspects of these procedures definitely attributed to the increase in cosmetic surgery rates.

"The poor have the right to be beautiful" talks about the rapid growth in cosmetic surgery in Brazil over the past 2 decades.  In Brazil, plastic surgery occurs in public hospitals, with waits that sometime take years.  The surgery is offered at no additional cost, which has led to Brazil being called "Empire of the Scalpel".  The crazy part about this is that Brazil has a crumbling health system, a shake state, and disparaged human rights.  The article opens with a story about a girl Denise, who came into the clinic hoping to get a breast reduction.  The doctor tells her to lose weight and then he will perform the surgery.  After she leaves, the doctor talks about why he did this to a colleague, "She is not pretty, she has low self-esteem, and she's poor.  She has no access to psychotherapy, to gyms, to nutritional guidance.  And do you think she's going to lose weight?  The reason we operate is not because of her back.  Her principal illness is poverty.".  This quote raises an interesting point.  It seems like the view in Brazil is that instead of trying to treat an illness, or other mental problem with therapy, they can just make the person more attractive and their problems will go away.  Another person that is discussed is Aline, who works with promotions, and is request ion breast work.  She believes that this will help her make more money, which will help her get a better life.  A big reason that there has been a boom in cosmetic surgery in Brazil is the "Globo Network".  It is the major news network in Brazil whose mission is "presenting an image of populace moving together toward modernity, glamour, and materially enriched, upwardly mobile lifestyle".  This, along with other factors, has led to people believing that plastic surgery can lead to the 1st world.  

These two articles were very interesting, but I have a few problems with them.  The article on Brazil, shows how Brazilians feel that plastic surgery can lead to helping and even curing mental problems.  I think this is ridiculous.  If somebody is self-conscious and insecure about their body,  they should work out and get the body that they want.  If someone has a true mental illness, than a new body won't heal that, then they will just become insecure about their new body.  We have seen how they're are surgery junkies who never are satisfied with their bodies, like the Human Ken who had over 100 surgeries.  I also thought it was a little ridiculous that plastic surgery was so common in Brazil.  But then I started thinking about how it is completely acceptable to have braces in the United States and to have oral surgery to fix your teeth.  Maybe we as Americans are on our way to a cosmetic lifestyle like Brazil, and we just don't know it yet.  Regarding the Extreme Makeover article.  I had problems with how the contestants would go into the show saying that they had one problem, like Luke who said he just wanted to fix his saggy skin, but leave the show with multiple other surgeries like hair transplant, teeth whitening, and rhinoplasty.  I was able to sympathize with Luke about his saggy skin because he tried to change his body himself through working out, but I lost sympathy when he decided to change multiple other things.  I think this shows how although the contestants claimed that they wanted to just be normal, they really wanted to be as beautiful or handsome as possible.  

Gracie Hall

            This week we looked at two different texts that dealt with the new beauty craze of plastic surgery. We began by looking at Victoria Pitts-Taylor’s Chapter “Normal Extremes” from her book Surgery Junkies; this chapter revolved around the reality T.V. trend of filming plastic surgery transformations. We are first introduced to the reality show Extreme Makeover that launched the shifting public discourse about cosmetic surgery with the first episode aired December 11, 2002. This show popularized the extreme surgical makeover, and coined the phrase. It portrayed “before” and “after” bodies that had been achieved by numerous cosmetic surgeries won through a competition.  Television, specifically Extreme Makeover is “responsible for some of cosmetic surgery’s recent market expansions” (40).

            Reality TV propagates information, social meanings, norms, and value through seemingly “real” people. These characters, because they are not fictional, are easy to sympathize and empathize with. However these people are filmed and edited in such a way that they soon embody written characters. Extreme Makeover, despite its reality TV status, is partially an exception because audiences are privy to real surgeries, real surgeons, and permanently changed bodies. These characters, however, are no different because each patient is shown with a simple short constructed story. Each patient is “presented as both transformed and restored”. First we meet Luke who is the determined and dedicated personal trainer that was born undeservingly fat. His proper body is supposed to be thin and his real identity employs a disciplined self. His new body shows his ‘true’ and ‘inner self’. Like Luke, Stephanie is a woman who’s inside self has been hidden. Inside a withered, mothers body her psyche suffers, however, after her surgery she rejoices, “it’s the new me”, and that she is now the person she always dreamt of.  Then there is Stacy who “too has a better, truer self waiting to come out”. The reality show portrays her as a woman who looks like a man, and therefore has a hard time attracting heterosexual attention. Extreme Makeover helps her start a new life and rebuild her prospects for love and happiness. Finally, there is Tess, a former beauty queen whose body has been ruined by birthing three children; she uses the show to reclaim her original beauty. Tess has the luxury of ethnic specialists, who make sure that her face stay “authentic” for her face: “Tess will regain what she once had, she will also retain her ethnic authenticity” (49).

            Pitts-Taylor explains Extreme Makeover’s notion that “you can look like your better self. You can embrace your existential possibilities that were stunted by an ugly body or a strained difficult life”.  Most patients are suffering from “psychological pain and ugliness or defect” and can be both healed and can achieve wellness through cosmetic medicine, they can come into their true selves and reach normalcy. Extreme Makeover has described the body as a “source of deep, life-wrecking, sometimes even disabling distress” and for some to reach good levels of self esteem, “cosmetic surgery is not a practice of indulgence, misrepresentation, or experimentalism, but rather one of self-care”. The article describes most Extreme Makeover patients as just wanting to be normal. Like the men with B.D.D in Pope, Phillips, and Olivardia’s “Beyond Muscle and Fat”, these patients seemed to be exhibiting a similar want of normalcy. Other narratives stress an entitlement instead of normalcy. Many women especially, claim that because they have been intertwined with the mundane problems of gendered domestic life, they deserve a rejuvenated body. In the real world, normally only money can help to achieve this type of “empowerment” (interesting idea of empowerment like in last week’s “Getting Your Body Back”). Extreme Makeover makes imagined bodies possibilities, by taking money out of the equation. This issue of money exposes a contradiction in Extreme Makeover’s logic: “on the one hand, cosmetic surgery is presented as a way of taking action and doing something for oneself, on the other hand, such a makeover is out of reach for most people” (54).

            In addition to money, another issue concerning cosmetic surgery is the pain and suffering that accompanies the process. Audiences are made (somewhat) aware that this is a part of it, but that the patients always deem it “worth it”. When interviewing patients Pitts-Taylor found that the show did not provide realistic images. One patient said, “you see someone for ten seconds saying it’s painful, but you don’t see it for ten days. For me the pain was numbing. I had intense pain for three days. I was black and blue for four weeks and six weeks later I still have a little bruising. It’s not realistic” (57). Extreme Makeover in its first three seasons gave each patient a Hollywood ending, while muting the negative aspects of cosmetic surgery.

            Another part of the show that had little coverage was the shows link to the American Society of Plastic Surgery. There was much conversation before the viewing of the show about the society’s ethics code and the endorsement of members’ participation. Some said, “[there are] potential ethical dilemmas that can arise from advertising those shows” (60). Surgeons’ differing views on all of this is fascinating. We hear in this article that there is a cosmetic surgery epidemic, unrealistic expectations, too many procedures, absurdities, distortion, and spin offs such as Nip/Tuck and I Want a Famous Face that give plastic surgery a bad name. All of these shows have changed society’s tone about cosmetic surgery.

            This article ends with the tale of Jeffery Cooper who shatters Extreme Makeover’s idea that surgery “pathologizes the body in order to claim the psychological wellness of its participants” (66). After his surgery, his compulsive over eating does not stop and he is not “cured”, and additionally the surgery produces family tensions. This episode shows that cosmetic surgery can be complex, difficult, and ambiguous. The other article we read, “The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful; Cosmetic Surgery in Neoliberal Brazil” by Alexander Edmonds also focuses on plastic surgery, but in a whole different light. Instead of looking through the lens of American reality television, Edmonds takes an anthropological look at the cosmetic surgery practices in Brazil.

            In Brazil, most patients go to the hospitals for plastic surgery. One of these hospitals is funded in part by Catholic charities; where as most public hospitals are supported by federal or municipal budgets, which offer cosmetic surgery at no cost. In Brazil, “plastic surgery is not only for the rich. The poor have the right to be beautiful” (364). With all this free and widespread surgery Brazil has been named the empire of the scalpel for what they simply call plástica.

            The article opens with a contradictory statement “a shrinking state with a crumbling health system provides free plástica. A right to beauty is celebrated in a country where human rights are disparaged as ‘privileges for bandits’” (365). The rest of this article, however, spends its time rationalizing and disproving this contradiction. We are first asked why the demand for plastic surgery is rising in one of the most unequal societies in the world, our answer is as follows. These beauty practices offer a means to compete in a “neoliberal libidinal economy” and everyone is allowed positive self-esteem. The illness that is normally treated through plástica is self-esteem and poverty, by beautifying plástica serves as a therapeutic, psychological necessity. Plástica works better than a visit to a psychologist because it “cures everything by knowing nothing”; it is the “most effective therapy.” Common female patients can all be linked back to three related social trends in Brazil: “”the rise of the female employment, the feminization of the working class, and the growth in the service sector”.  Many women request surgery because of work/professional related issues. This article claims that plástica has been ‘democratized’ via the public health system and by the private sector. Now, “public hospitals and cheap private clinics can promise not only bodily change, but also the allure of First World modernity and glamour.” Most approach plástica as if “it will confer social mobility, erotic powers, or actual physiological rejuvenation”.

            Plástica has become almost a national symbol for Brazil, in addition to samba and soccer is one of the biggest clichés of the nation. Edmonds states, “In Brazil eroticized and aestheticized hybridity has been a key symbol in elaborations of national identity.” Racial democracies, meta-race, overarching brownness, all are pushed to a national beauty ideal of sensual large hips, thighs, and buttocks, and a narrow waist. National identity is created through this ideal and plástica, this radicalized beauty myths creates a demand for buttocks implants that normally go unrequested in the rest of the world. Brazils ‘continuum’ of race often allows for blame, and more requests for improvement. Edmonds states ultimately “Brazil has an aesthetic imaginary rooted in its particular history of racial mixing and nation-building that classifies and values appearance in distinct ways.” All of this incites demand.

            Demand is also generated by modern medicine, new expansive notions of health, and broad changes in sexual and social relationships. Women, specifically have been responding to these social generators, it is a feminine realm. Plástica is gendered because it is grandly associated with the female life cycle: puberty, pregnancy, breast-feeding and menopause. Women in Brazil (unlike contestants of Extreme Makeover) don’t just want to look normal but often sexier. Therefore, plástica is linked to procedures that manage reproductive health and sexuality; women have a “right to sex as well as the duty of sexual allure”. Plástica rates have been especially high with teenage girls because of this; however, it has also been growing with middle age women because they want to “remain competitive” sexually. Beauty has become the norm, and beauty has become capital.

            Body capitals include production, reproduction, work, and sex. Like we saw in last weeks article about pregnant bodies, Brazil claims that plástica is healing medicine that is meant to empower. Instead, however, it inserts bodies into the public market and becomes “infused with the frustrated desires of patients, the competitive logic of markets, the imagery of a nationalist beauty myth, and the medical and consumer fetishisms of popular culture”. Is it medicine? Or just another economic beauty market? One final suggestion Edmonds indicates is that (like in Extreme Makeover) beauty is hope: “when access to education is limited, the body—relative to the mind becomes a more important basis for identity as well as a source of power… beauty can influence the rich and powerful”. Beauty can change the world?

Sorry for the sloppiness of this post, I wanted to get it online before I lost power.