- Hardcover: 418 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press; illustrated edition edition (20 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0691026726
- ISBN-13: 978-0691026725
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 843,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles, Isis
Rich in both detail and fascinating illustrations, Gilman's history shows aesthetic surgery as a response to the exigencies of contemporary cultures.
Kathy Davis, Bulletin of the History of Medicine
It is a 'must' for anyone concerned with our present cultural obsession with beauty and the makability of the body.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
IN A WORLD in which we are judged by how we appear, the belief that we can change our appearance is liberating. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
IN A WORLD in which we are judged by how we appear, the belief that we can change our appearance is liberating. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cultural History at its Best,
By hurrah_for_dan@hotmail.com (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery (Paperback)
Oh, look: another fantasticaly readable and informative book from Sander Gilman. Who'd have thought it? As usual, Gilamn casts his ironic eye over past cultural constructions of the human body, narrating this tale of aesthetic surgery with a quizzical wit and a deployment of his old analytical favourites (Freud and race theories)which he never allows to obscure his central line of argument: how do we 'pass' as humans? He suggests that it is culture that produces bodily norms and that (after Judith Butler, perhaps?) we are all in some way induced to act up to these prescriptions. In its most extreme form, this role-play becomes inscribed upon the flesh of our very bodies: cosmetic (or, as he has it, 'aesthetic') surgery. Get ready then for a grotesque cavalcade of syphillitic noses; designer vaginas; prosthetic penises; boob-jobs and liposuction. Gilman draws on a wide range of sources in popular culture and (thankfully) makes only basic reference to the institutional medical science behind the specialities -this is more about *why* we undergo aesthetic surgery and how society/culture views it than the actual procedures and medical advances themselves. Read in conjunction with Elizabeth Haiken's "Venus Envy" this book provides a fabulous overview of the culturalproduction of bodily norms.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hardly Dead,
By Bruce E. Henderson "rhodasdad" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery (Paperback)
The other critic seems to suggest that historical research has no value--only the voices of the present are of use to him. His loss--Gilman is an amazing historian and insightful interpreter of social customs and texts--and there is much to be learned from any book he writes.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Sociology of Surgery,
By Tristan de Chalain "Plastic Surgeon and Autho... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery (Paperback)
Sander Gilman has delivered an intellectual tour de force in his book Making The Body Beautifu: A cultural history of aesthetic surgery. In nine chapters he covers such fields as the rise and development of surgery, how surgery designed to specifically alter appearance rather than fight disease or stave off death, became not only possible, but socially acceptable; the racial and cultural drivers that underpinned demand for such procedures as otoplasty ( pinning back ears) and rhinoplasty (reshaping noses); and the rise of the social cult of the body erotic, the body beautiful and the war on aging. He explores the impact of the mutilating injuries of the great war on the development of surgery and he deals with the issues around trans-gender dysphoria and surgery designed to alter the outward sexuality of the human body.
His research is detailed and impeccable and his writing easy to read. This book is a "must-have" text for anyone interested in the two-way interaction between between Society at large and the microcosm of surgical intervention. It is both a useful reference for the academic or surgeon and a fascinating read for the interested layman. 19 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great idea but no cigar!,
By Robert Payne - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery (Hardcover)
Sander Gilman makes a good start on a great topic, but after a couple of chapters he falters and seems to loose his grip. Starting with some great tid-bits about plastic surgery ranging from buttock lifts to nose replacement, he wanders into an extended and boring research about Jewish hooked. Not satisfied, he adds an additional chapter about social history of the Jewish nose--perhaps interesting to some, but not what was promised in the title. From there the book is nothing but speculation from dead reaserch.Two types of research are available for a writer: Live research and dead research. Live research consists mostly of interviews, discussions and question asking. Gilman will have none of it. His is dead research from cover to cover, finding his material mostly in the musty records of the 19th century. Even his photos and illustrations are from 100 years ago. To make matters worse, the publisher printed all the graphics ordinary book paper making them very blurry and almost impossible to decipher. Most irritating of all is his habit of repeating his thesis on almost most every page as if he feels compelled to shove it down our throats. He tells us at least fifty times that people get plastic surgery in order to "pass" and feel happy. Come on Sander, enough is enough. In sum: Sander Gilman, like Bill Clinton, starts with great promise but then proceeds to make a real mess of things. |
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