The body consumed: Reflexivity and cosmetic surgery

We live in a time with increasing focus on the body and its perfection. The marketing environment is replete with products and services catering to the health, well-being, and beauty of bodies and, it is implied, of our souls. One of the more drastic and consequently also much debated and, at times, tabooed type of service and consumption within this field is cosmetic surgery. This article is based on interviews with 15 women who have had cosmetic operations. It examines what motivated their decision to have surgery; some of their thoughts and feelings before, during and after the process; and the ways in which the operation has influenced their life and self-identity subsequently. The material is analysed within a theoretical framework resting mainly on Anthony Giddens' work on self-identity in late modernity. This implies that cosmetic surgery is understood to be part of the individual's reflexive construction of self-identity, and leads to a focus on issues such as self-determination, self-esteem, and the relationship between body and identity. Finally, some relations between self-identity and the marketing institution are discussed. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.