Cosmetic surgery was once associated with a one-size-fits-all approach, modifying patients to conform to a single standard of beauty. As this surgery has become more accessible worldwide, changing beauty trends have led to a proliferation of beauty standards for members of different racial groups. Alka V. Menon enters the world of cosmetic surgeons, journeying from a sprawling convention center in Kyoto to boutique clinics in the multicultural countries of the United States and Malaysia. She shows how surgeons generate and apply knowledge using racial categories and how this process is affected by transnational clinical and economic exchanges. Surgeons not only measure and organize but also elaborate upon racial differences in a globalized field of medicine. Focusing on the role of cosmetic surgeons as gatekeepers and producers of desired appearances, Refashioning Race argues that cosmetic surgeons literally reshape race—both on patients' bodies and at the broader level of culture.
Refashioning Race How Global Cosmetic Surgery Crafts New Beauty Standards
About the Book
Reviews
"Both fresh and realistic in its viewpoint, Refashioning Race finally reveals how race works in cosmetic surgery!"—So Yeon Leem, Assistant Professor, Dong-A University"An excellent and innovative work that cuts across multiple levels of analysis. Alka Menon breaks new ground and revises assumptions regarding race and cosmetic surgery. Readers will be able to see race as a tool in the hands of surgeons."—Maxine Craig, author of Sorry I Don't Dance: Why Men Refuse to Move
Table of Contents
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: From Standardization to
Customization—Race in Cosmetic Surgery
PART I GLOBAL EXPERT DISCOURSE
1. Standardizing Noses in Global Cosmetic Surgery
2. Standardizing Techniques: Asian Cosmetic
Surgery and the Art and Science of Asian
Difference
PART II DISCUSSING CLINICAL PRACTICE IN THE
U.S. AND MALAYSIA
3. “Looking Right”: Crafting Natural Looks in
Cosmetic Surgery
4. Race and Customization in the Market for
Cosmetic Surgery
5. Customizing Bodies: Seeing Race on the Body
Conclusion: The Art and Science of Racial
Difference in Global Cosmetic Surgery
Methodological Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index