Flesh Wounds: The Culture of Cosmetic Surgery

by Virginia Blum

When did cosmetic surgery become a common practice, the stuff of everyday conversation? In a work that combines a provocative ethnography of plastic surgery and a penetrating analysis of beauty and feminism, Virginia L. Blum searches out the social conditions and imperatives that have made ours a culture of cosmetic surgery. From diverse viewpoints, ranging from cosmetic surgery patient to feminist cultural critic, she looks into the realities and fantasies that have made physical malleability an essential part of our modern-day identity.

For a cultural practice to develop such a tenacious grip, Blum argues, it must be fed from multiple directions: some pragmatic, including the profit motive of surgeons and the increasing need to appear young on the job; some philosophical, such as the notion that a new body is something you can buy or that appearance changes your life. Flesh Wounds is an inquiry into the ideas and practices that have forged such a culture. Tying the boom in cosmetic surgery to a culture-wide trend toward celebrity, Blum explores our growing compulsion to emulate what remain for most of us two-dimensional icons. Moving between personal experiences and observations, interviews with patients and surgeons, and readings of literature and cultural moments, her book reveals the ways in which the practice of cosmetic surgery captures the condition of identity in contemporary culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Feminist Theory, Sociology, Psychology, Academic, The United States Of America

Hardcover

First published September 10, 2003

Reviews

[Lee Kofman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book simplistic in its central claim that really all cosmetic surgery boils down to is our wish to resemble celebrities. But not only the work was simplistic, ironically at the same time it was also all over the place. The various arguments and observations Blum makes in different chapters are often contradictory, which is okay as long as you then discuss these contradictions and make some sense of them, but she didn't do that. I also felt that the study was heavily coloured by the author's own bad experience of being talked into doing cosmetic surgery by her mother in her youth. That seems to have affected her so that even though Blum is an academic researcher she never appears to be objective about her material.

[Laila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alles was ich im Barbie Movie vermisst habe ehrlich gesagt. Geschrieben aus der Perspektive einer Person, die sich selbst auf mehreren Ebenen in dem Thema auskennt. Was will man mehr – Ich fands mega. Hab an 2 Tagen gelesen. Persönlicher Rekord.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My advisor wrote this.
I had forgotten that I had read this until I was reading the latest issue of Allure at my parents' house and a letter to the editor recommended it.

[Raina Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provided an interesting meditation on the culture of cosmetic surgery. The author draws on interviews with surgeons and patients, philosophy, literature, and media studies to build her case. It was one of those books where I wish it could have been written today, because I would love to hear the author's thoughts on how social media (especially Instagram) affects self-image and the normalization of surgery. I think many of the points the author makes about the power of television and the two-dimensional image can also be applied to social media to a certain degree. I found some of the literary comparisons went on a bit long, especially when I wasn't familiar with the work, but overall it was a thought-provoking read which expressed many ideas that I had observed but was never able to put into words.

[Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

very messy and all over the place but engaging read nonetheless. still im not immune to wanting a jaw tuck

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 50 pages where she talks personal- I was sure this was 5 stars but it just ended up in a philosophical "is it narcissism" for like 100 pages before ending on a good note

[Deodand · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I find the subject very interesting. This book was a bit more academic than I was expecting it to be. The author spreads a pretty wide net and heads into the realms of psychology and philosophy.