National Art Education Association

Cosmetic Surgery and the Cultural Construction of Beauty Author(s): Lorrie Blair and Maya Shalmon Reviewed work(s): Source: Art Education, Vol. 58, No. 3 (May, 2005), pp. 14-18 Published by: National Art Education Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27696071 . Accessed: 05/03/2012 13:54
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.tura bn?bradtion

BY

LORRIE

BLAIR

AND

eauty

MAYA

SHALMON

history, certain members of nearly all Throughout cultures have deliberately altered their body's natural appearance. Padaund women use rings to elongate their necks, Victorians constricted theirwaists with corsets, and other cultures have practiced foot we quickly binding. When we look closely at each activity, ? by members of these societies and the

In this articlewe explore the growing Our work popularity of cosmetic surgery. available to achieve that ideal. is inspired and informed many of the by technology ^^^m March 2003 issue articles contained in the we a when medicine ofArt Education, which encourage art Today, livein time ^^^^^^SSj^^? can cure thebody and also reshape it. educators to address visual culture ^^B 'IHHk use (Villeneuve, 2003). Specifically,we adopt many Hence, people ^^?^^^m^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^m^. an instructionalapproach to our subject such l '^^BBB^^BBB^^^g^^ means, as as advocated by Karen Keifer-Boyd,who ^^|BB!-HHBH?^ recommends we begin with what is meaningful inour lives today and then look forrepresentations of those issues in visual culture (Keifer-Boyd, Amburgy, and Knight, 2003, p. 48). We draw examples from reality television, advertising, dolls, and filmsmade forchildren. ^ work of BL;,. Next, we examine the who Orlan, a performance artist H| repeatedly underwent cosmetic Hip

uncoverthe junction ideology beauty held of of

Additionally, cosmetic surgery is becoming increasinglyavailable and affordable to people of all ages, including teenagers.According to journalist Alissa Quart (2003), "Teenagers now alter their bodies extremely and proudly" (p. 115). She reports, from2000 to 2001, the number of cosmetic surgeries on teens ages 18 and under rose nearly 22 %.

^^^BIlll^

biom?dical

alter their ' jflHii^l^^Hl^^^^^lP I ^^^BHBb^J^H^H^P bodies. fll^^^^^^^^^^^^K I JK^Kp^^flH^H^.

j^I^H^^H^^k: ^^Hl^^^Htei

^ ^Hi^^SlnBBHHL 1 ^^H^S^HhH^^H^

steroids and to hormones

14

ART EDUCATION / MAY 2005

surgery ina quest to challenge dominant standards of beauty. By discussing fine arts,we hope to achieve the goals of art education as posited byArthurEfland (2004) who writes thatart education should provide "the freedom to explore multiple formsof visual culture to enable students to understand social and cultural influences affectingtheir lives." (p. 250).
examples from both popular culture and

only a beautiful princess and her prince

live happily ever after.

exceptions,

generally

in these

stories,

will the suggestion that cosmetic surgery

enhance These ads self-esteem and

Today,

advertisements

frequently improve

carry one's

While many dolls, such as Bratz? and

American play with comment one such

quality of life(Sarwer & Crerand, 2004).

appear and

standards of beauty to the childrenwho

to them, critics who want on cosmetic often surgery most Cindy Jackson, an

Girls?,

may

communicate

cite Barbie, Mattel's best selling doll. In

instance,

People become dissatisfied with their appearance when they perceivea between their discrepancy
actual appearance and an

American talk show celebrity,had more than 20 surgical procedures inan attempt to resemble Barbie (Goodall, 1999).Much has been written about theBarbie doll, which according to Shirley Steinberg (1998) "celebrates whiteness?blond
whiteness

young beautifulmodels are frequently used to depict postoperative results. Prior to 1982, theAmerican Medical Association prohibited all advertising for medical services (Sullivan, 2001). The Supreme Court over turned this ruling and paved the way forcosmetic surgeons
to actively solicit customers. for cosmetic Generally, surgery advertisements

billboards,

on television, inmagazines, where

femininebeauty" (p .217). Susan Jane Gilman (2000), reflectingon her own childhood experiences of playingwith Asian and Latina girlsbegan to realize you didn't look slowly and painfully that if less beautiful, less valuable, lessworthy"
(p. 17). Gilman's cosmetic comments like Barbie, you didn't fit in.... You were are particu Barbie, writes, "We urban, Jewish, black,

in particular?as

a standard

for

differfromothermedical ads in that they often resemble ads typicallyfound in

fashion and beauty magazines. as one of the most about

Deborah Sullivan (2001) regards

women's magazines sources important articles of information about cosmetic

whether that ideal is ideal, thatof a doctor, celebrity,

or a toymanufacturer. The Construction of Beauty in Visual Culture

cosmetic surgery.She examined 171 from 1985 to 1995 to determine how magazines participate in the cultural
construction cosmetic of appearance. surgery inwomen's Sullivan magazine surgery

larlyaptwhen we consider thehistory of

surgery.

(2001) found that, "Articlesabout provide readers an opportunity to learn physicians' ideology about theproblem atic nature of body parts that fall short of the ideal" (p. 156). shows have, inpart, contributed to the demand forcosmetic surgery.In 2003, the ABC television show,Extreme Makeovers, was the second highest rated program foradults under 50 (Sarwer and Crerand, 2004). Another example, The women who all Swan, featured 18 described themselves as "uglyducklings."
In this show each woman was The many makeover-based reality magazines

Sander Gilman (1999), inhis book, Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural Aesthetic Surgery, explains Myths and beliefs about beauty are History of that the growth of cosmetic surgery deeply embedded inour culture and are transmittedfromearly childhood onward. coincided with the spread of so-called Consider how fairytales,movies made for race science that linked one's physical to one's temperament, appearance children, and dolls reinforce thenotion For example, and intelligence. thatbeauty is a prerequisite for character, those considered racially inferiorto the happiness. Traditionally, thehero or heroine isportrayed as young, beautiful, English middle class, such as the Irish, were and white while thevillain is depicted as and the lower classes, Welsh, old, ugly,and dark. One such example is thought to have protruding jaws. Men of were considered to be those Disney's LittleMermaid (1989), an intelligence cosmetic animated version of theHans Christian with less prominent jaws. Some now consider the face of Andersen fairytale about Ariel, a surgeons as a Welsh mermaid who has fallen in lovewith the Catherine actress, Zeta-Jones, a Eric.1 Ariel makes the representation of ideal beauty. Early handsome prince, deal with Ursula, a squid, to trade her scientists also believed thatphysical and mental illness,prostitution,and signs of exquisite voice fora pair of legs inorder to pursue Eric. Henry Giroux (1998), a criminal behavior were thought to be critic of the Disney corporation, perceptible on the exterior of thebody as long-time black and purple squid in theLittle Mermaid, gushes with evil and irony" mermaid Ariel appears to be while the "modeled aftera slightlyanorexic Barbie? doll" (p. 58). Although thereare
points out that Ursula, the "large, oozing,

individualized team,which consisted of a

a dentist, and trainer, a therapist, personal a surgeon, to help her transform into a one woman Swan." was crowned the "Ultimate

given

an

beautiful person. During thefinal episode,

Early cosmetic surgeryheld thepromise

of curing forming one's one's inner condition outer appearance. by trans

a symbolic

reflection

of one's

inner state.

MAY 2005

/ ART EDUCATION

15

the Through us$$"before"

to attempts providescientific has evidencethatsurgery not appearance, only improved but has provided happiness. can Students be ledthrough discussionsto see that"before and after" images,like other are visual images, inneed of interpretation.

For a younger audience, teenagersMike and Matt Schlepp, starred in/Want a Famous Face, anMTV cosmetic-surgery realityshow. The MTV crew followed Mike andMatt throughtwomonths of countless surgerieswhere theyspent $37,000 of theirown money to look like Brad Pitt. The Schlepps, as well as the winners of Tke Swan andExtreme Makeover were laterfeatured on talk shows such as Oprah, and Dr. Phil. Television, like magazines and children's toys andmovies, provides visual examples of beautiful individuals.People become dissatisfiedwith theirappear ance when theyperceive a discrepancy between theiractual appearance and an ideal,whether that ideal is thatof a manufacturer. doctor, celebrity,or a toy Cosmetic surgery involves aesthetic judgments, andwhen we closely inspect those judgments,we can see that standards of beauty are largelyculturally determined. The artistOrlan, whom we discuss in thenext section, critiques dominant norms of beauty.Her ReirimrriMim ofSt-Orlan specifically comments on currentcosmetic surgery
practices.

Verms, and hermouth from Boucher's Europa (Ince, 2000, p. 6). Orlan then turned to cosmetic surgery to sculpt her face tomatch the computer-generated
image.

Challenging Dominant Standards of Beauty Through the Art of Orlan

The French artist Orlan is regarded as one of themore importantartistsof the late 20th century.She uses her face as her medium and cosmetic surgeryas primary her sculpting method. On May 30th, 1987?her 40th birthday?Orlan embarked upon a project that married cosmetic i with performance surgery art.TheReivmrnt?wn of St-Or?antwhich entailed nine separate operations, involved re-sculpting Orlan's face according to ideals of female beauty established bymale artists Orlan firstcreated a put history. based ^generated self-portrait takenfromwomen in orks. Her forehead, for takenfrom Da Vinci's er chinfrom Botticelli's

Orlan's art isnot the completed operation, but rather theprocess of the operation, duringwhich she remained conscious and incommunication fully with her remote audience of gallery visitors via satellite (Goodall, 1999). Orlan talked animatedly to her audience or read to themfrom texts chosen to serve as commentaries onwhat is takingplace. One key text read by Orlan during her performance was from Lacanian psycho analyst Eug?nie Lemoine-Luccioni's book (1983), La Robe (TheDress). Lemoine Luccioni, who devotes a chapter to Orlan's early performances, writes poeti cally about the discrepancy between the which one appears versus one's way in own self-perception.She states, "Skin is deceptive... I have black skin,but I am a White person; the skin of a woman but I am a man. I never have the skin ofwhat I am" (Lemoine-Luccioni, 1983,p. 95, translation).Although Orlan's first performances were concerned with ideals of Western beauty, the seventh, eighth, and ninthoperations involvedplacing implants intoher upper cheeks and the sides of her forehead to give the impres sion of budding horns (Goodall, 1999). After the seventh operation, Orlan displayed 41 self-portraitsconsisting of photographs taken on the day the surgery was performed, and on each subsequent day afteruntil thehealing process was complete (Moos, 1996). Orlan's work has been sensationalized media, and critics oftenwrite that by the she isuncritically accepting socially imposed ideals of beauty by using cosmetic surgery to become the "ideal woman" (Hirschhorn, 1996,p. 117). Moreover, according to Ince (2000), "Orlan has been called a publicityfreak and a surgeryjunkie, and had hermental equilibrium repeatedly called into question" (p. 45). Others hail herwork as a radical feministcritique of beauty practices. Anthony Shelton (1996), for Orlan's goal is to example, writes that

16

ART EDUCATION / MAY 2005

spare women

from cosmetic

showing itsgraphic and horrible side (p.

surgery

by

is states, 107). Orlan, however, "My work not a stand against cosmetic but surgery, the standards of beauty, against against

Reconstructing Notions of Beauty inthe Art Classroom

Art educators teachers can use Charles the work Garoian of Orlan and as a

media attempts toprovide images, the

scientific only evidence that surgery has not

Yvonne Gaudelius (2001) argue that

the dictates of a dominant ideology that

impresses itself more and more on the

provided happiness. Students can be led throughdiscussions to see that "before

and after" images, are like other visual images, in need of interpretation. are not

improved

appearance,

but has

feminineflesh" (Brand, 2000, p. 293). Davis (1997) posits that forOrlan,

cosmetic believes

criticalmetaphor to question the aesthetic impact of technology and to critique the discourse thatnormalizes
They write, of her surgeries documentation rigorous and her performances of canonical cosmetic surgery. "The

According toBarrett (2003), "Ifthe

messages buying, which carried

regain control over theirbodies, but she

Orlan's intention was never

surgery

is a way

for women

to

we interpreted, will be unwittingly

wearing, promoting, and

by visual

culture

meant to reflect the surgical experiences women (p. 176). Davis of "ordinary" with conducted in-depth interviews women who had or planned to have cosmetic surgeryand found that the women did not have surgery tobecome
more beautiful. an Davis surgery was writes, intervention "Cosmetic in identity.

'beauty'function technologically to
us to question various ways

otherwise consuming opinions with

we may or may not agree" (p. 12). for cosmetic surgery students culture enrolled in a and a

enable

in

which thebody makes and carries meaning" (p. 342). Orlan acknowledges theways in which our choices about (Pitts, 2003) and may share common groundwith teenagerswho are exploring and experimentingwith their identity throughfashion, tattooing,and piercing. Admittedly,Orlan's work isprovocative and not all teachers will be comfortable
her work. discussing sions around Orlan's discus However, art can address appearance are social and historical

Advertisements neutral. course discuss We ads asked

images carry ideology,butmay appear

on visual to collect

for cosmetic

It enabled them to reduce the distance between the internaland external so that
others could see them as

variety of ads, students pointed out that reproductions showing people prior to Others noted that imageswere brighter. "after"images showed people with better posture and with smiling faces. One student located an ad in which a woman of color was shown with lighterskin after
her surgery, liposuction used for a though the ad was We also viewed procedure. cosmetic surgery. even surgery were dimly lit,whereas "after"

surgery. Using

themselves" (p. 175). Others, such as Naomi Wolf (1991), are not as optimistic
about women's motivation to have are surgery. She posits that women

they saw

pressured to have cosmetic surgery in order to obtain the ideals promoted by the male-dominated fashion industry and its
advertising campaigns. more women than men surgery, the number while Moreover, have cosmetic having

of men

questions raised by Peg Zeglin Brand (2000), in the introduction to her book, Beauty Matters. She asks, "What isbeauty and how does itoperate within the context of our particular culture?What are the ideals of femininebeauty and are theyrelevant to portrayingbeauty inart?" (p. 4). Teachers can help students carefully
examine in cosmetic "before and after" and

and discussed how art and aesthetics

were to advertise

A number of ads, likeOrlan, appropriated

such images from Renaissance paintings, as Botticelli's a magazine Venus. Elevate, devoted enhance entirely to cosmetic

surgery is increasing (Sarwer & Crerand, 2004). Technology has given us safer, less
and adver surgical procedures, awareness media tising has increased about those procedures. We are to have surgery to enhance their appear televi invasive

witnessing a greaterwillingness of people

ance, in reality as well as on reality sion. There on the is no consensus

these images relyon "photographic truth." Sturken and Cartwright's (2001) book, Practice of Looking: An
Introduction to Visual

surgery

images used consider how

ment, proved to be good source for images thatdemonstrate the symbiotic relationship between art and cosmetic
surgery.

Sturken and Cartwright remind us that

all ads are about transformation in that

meaning of enhancing thebody. Some condemn it, while others celebrate it. We may hold strongopinions, but likeKeifer Boyd (2003) we believe our role as art teachers is to guide students to construct theirown meanings by critically examining how their immediate concerns
are represented by others, particularly and popular through mass media culture, art. and contemporary

larlyhelpful to teachers. Their work can enable teachers to lead discussions on the role these photographs play as scientific evidence. Sturken and Cartwright (2001) write, "The photographic image has often
been seen

Culture,

is particu

theyare designed to offerpeople who are in some way dissatisfied with a product will alleviate theirdissatisfaction. that According to Sturken and Cartwright (2001), ads offer "figuresof glamour that
consumers people who can to emulate, envy and wish are presented as already that appear bodies perfect

which the truthcan be tionality,through toldwithout mediation or subjective

(p. 280). As viewers, we are an image as reality, since as apt to accept distortion" imagery authority Through often comes to us with often and confident assume "after" it

as an entity stripped

of inten

and yet somehow attainable" (p. 213). Orlan's work is indirect contrast to the
"before-and-after" have undergone images cosmetic of people who surgery used Orlan's photo

transformed,

Sturken and Cartwrightassert, "Scientific

behind the use it... we

so

pervasively

represents objective knowledge" (p. 279).

of "before"

graphs of her bruised and swollen post operative face highlight theprocess of

by media.

MAY 2005 / ART EDUCATION

17

cosmetic When

surgery

and not

its end

result.

consider ways in which changing one's "Where is your identitylocated? Is it visible or invisible?"
With appearance changes one's identity.

examining sion, or the work

televi advertisements, can of Orlan, students

cuttingor dying one's hair orwearing may be make-up. On the other hand, it regardedwith contempt, in the same manner as footbinding. Regardless, our intentis to help students critically examine the messages put forthby
popular

Hirschhorn,

notions of beauty prevalent inpopular

culture, cosmetic starting with fairytales. surgery based reality instant Many shows are

younger

students,

we

can

examine

and tomake informedchoices to accept

or reject those messages.

culture,

as well

as the fine arts,

in the visual arts: Feminist readings. New York: Routledge. Ince, K. (2000). Orlan: Millennial female. New York: Berg. geographies Keifer-Boyd, K., Amburgy, P., & Knight, W. to teaching (2003). Three approaches visual culture in K-12 school contexts. Art Education, Lemoine-Luccioni,

M. (1996). Orlan: Artist in the reincarna post-human age of mechanical tion: Body as ready (to be re-) made. In Griselda Pollock and (Ed.), Generations

updated versions of fairytales thatoffer

magical and transformation.

Lorrie Blair is associate professor in the Art Education, Department of

Concordia E-mail: University, lblair@vax2. Montreal. concordia, ca

psychanalytique Editions du Seuil.

56(2), 44-51. E. (1983). La robe: Essai sur le v?tements. Paris:

Books such as Robert Munsch's (1980) The Paper Bag Princess provide an alter native to the typical tale.Munsch's book begins with theusual tale of Elizabeth, "a beautiful princess, who lived ina castle,
had going expensive to marry princess a prince and was clothes, named Ronald" burns her

Maya Shalmon is a graduate student at Concordia in Creative Arts Therapies.

E-mail: mayashalmon@yahoo.ca

of being: Orlan's Moos, D. (1996). Memories theater of the self. Art + Text, 54,61-72. Munsch, R. (1980). The paper bag princess. Toronto: Annick Press, Ltd, In the flesh: The cultural New York: of body modification. Palgrave Macmillan. The buying and Quart, A, (2003). Branded: selling of teenagers. Cambridge, MA: politics Pitts, V. (2003).

REFERENCES
Barrett, T. (2003). Art Education Interpreting visual 56(2), 6-12. culture. Brand, P.Z. (2000). Beauty matters. Indiana University Press. Indianapolis: Davis, K. (1997). 'My body ismy art': Cosmetic surgery as feminist utopia? In K. Davis practices: Feminist (Ed.) Embodied on the body (pp. 169-181). perspectives London: Sage Publications. Efland, A. (2004). The entwined nature of the on visual culture. aesthetic: A discourse Studies Garoian, in Art Education, 45(3), 234-251. C. & Gaudelius, Y. (2001). Cyborg in the pedagogy: Performing resistance 42(4), digital age. Studies 333-347. in Art Education,

(p. 2). Her plans are changed after a

smashes her castle,

clothes, and carries offPrince Ronald. In Munsch's tale,however, it isElizabeth

who

dragon

rescues Ronald. When theprince rejects Elizabeth because of her dirtyclothes and messy hair, she leaves him, dancing off into the sunset, joyfullyand alone. The Shrek (2003), also parodies tradi film, tional fairytales. Stories such as this women should not informstudents that feel that the only quality theyhave to offer is theirappearance, or that itshould be means through theprimary with they will
be evaluated by others.

cleverly

outsmarts

the dragon

and

Perseus Publishing. Sarwer, D., & Crerand, C. (2004). Body image and cosmetic medical treatments. Body Image, 1 (1), 99-111. S. (1998). The bitch who has every thing. In S. Steinberg and J. Kincheloe, The corporate (Eds.), Kinderculture: construction of childhood. Boulder, CO: Press.

Steinberg,

Westview

Gilman, S.J. (2000). Klaus Barbie and other dolls I'd like to see. In Ophira Edut (Ed.). Body Outlaws. New York: Seal Press. the body beautiful: Gilman, S. (1999). Making A cultural history of aesthetic surgery. Jersey: Princeton University Press. Giroux, H. (1998). Are Disney movies good for your kids? In S. Steinberg and J. Kincheloe, The corporate (Eds.), Kinderculture: construction of childhood. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Goodall, J. (1999). An order of pure decision: selection in the work of Un-natural Stelarc 3), 149-170. Haiken, E. (1997). cosmetic Hopkins and Orlan. Body and Society, 5(2 of New

London: Lund Humphries. Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2001). Practices to visual of looking: An introduction culture. Oxford, UK: Oxford University. Sullivan, D. (2001). Cosmetic cutting edge of commercial America. New Brunswick: University Press. Villeneuve, P. (2003). 50(2), 4-5. Editorial. surgery: The in medicine Rutgers Art Education,

culture. In Shelton, A. (1996). Fetishism's N. Sinclair (Ed.), The chameleon body.

Conclusion We echo Orlan and do not take a stand We against cosmetic surgery. wish to help students consider how theirnotions about beauty are socially constructed and toprovide themwith tools forpromoting the respect and appreciation of inner We are qualities and individual strengths. who are teased unmercifullyby class
mates, cosmetic aware, however, that for those holds students

Wolf, N. (1991). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. New York: William Morrow.

ENDNOTES
thank reviewer Deborah Smith for her suggestion to use the example of to help "make the Disney's Little Mermaid case for cultural icons of beauty and ugliness." Shank *The authors

We promise to end theirsuffering. also do notwant to alienate students for their

choice to elect to have cosmetic surgery. in the near future, cosmetic

surgery

great

Venus envy: A history surgery. Baltimore: Johns University Press.

Perhaps,

will be considered as common as surgery

18

ARTEDUCATION MAY2005 /