Posts Tagged ‘Cosmetic surgery’
BEAUTY DOCTORS
Before the turn of the twentieth century, long before there was a
specialty called plastic surgery, there were the beauty doctors. These
were the fringe operators, few of whom were trained physicians, who
performed cosmetic surgery in barbershops, beauty parlors, and hotel
rooms. They managed to attract great public interest, and they
operated on the wealthy and famous as well as on average citizens.
Some of these practitioners were probably competent but were marginalized
by the medical establishment for a variety of social and political
reasons. Unfortunately, few rec ords exist, and it is impossible
to pin down just how many beauty doctors were working and how
many people actually underwent cosmetic surgery during that era. Read the rest of this entry »
Body Fashions
Before cosmetic surgery became widely accessible, fads in body fashion mirrored fads in garment fashion. The fragile woman with an 18-inch waist was the ideal in Victorian times and required draconian corseting to effect. Throughout history a pale complexion has nearly always been more fashionable than a tan because pale skin denotes a woman who does not have to labor outdoors. During the mid-nineteenth century, high fashion also dictated tiny lips, produced through creative makeup, and big behinds (thus the bustle). Read the rest of this entry »
BUSINESS OF COSMETIC MEDICINE
We can no longer use only the term “cosmetic surgery” to describe the wide and increasing array of medical procedures available for the purpose of enhancing appearance. Therefore, I use the terms cosmetic medical care, cosmetic medical service, cosmetic medicine, cosmetic intervention, and cosmetic procedure to refer to any operation or less invasive medical procedure that is performed on what most people would consider normal features, usually for the purpose of lessening or enhancing their prominence, correcting minor irregularities that would be too minimal to qualify as reconstructive surgery, or reducing the signs of childbearing or aging. In general, people seek cosmetic interventions to change aspects of their bodies that they consider unfl attering. Read the rest of this entry »