Beauty and the Cosmetic Secret

Alessandra K. Heggenstaller; Asta Rau; Jan K. Coetzee; Ria Smit; Anne Ryen

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.14.4.05

Authors

Alessandra K. Heggenstaller Alessandra K. Heggenstaller, Asta Rau, Jan K. Coetzee - University of the Free State, South Africa
Asta Rau
Jan K. Coetzee
Ria Smit Lone Star College, U.S.A., University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Anne Ryen University of Agder, Norway

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.14.4.05

Keywords:

Cosmetic Surgery, Beauty, Secrecy, Femininity, Embodiment, Self-Empowerment, Feminism, Phenomenology, Social Constructivism

Abstract

Cosmetic surgery is often linked to the perception that women who resort to cosmetic interventions to alter their physical appearance are vain, superficial, and narcissistic. Few investigations have acknowledged and explored the individual’s personal motivations and experiences of her action and choice with regards to aesthetic surgery. By focusing on subjective experience, alternative insights can be gained on the cosmetic procedure(s) and on how their reshaped body influences an individual’s lifeworld experience. The article explores the perceived benefits and consequences of reshaping, enhancing, and/or reducing a perceived flaw or shortcoming of the body. From this exploration the focus moves to the individual’s subjective and intersubjective perceptions: how she motivates and justifies her physical transformation whilst keeping private, and at times hiding, her surgical intervention. Drawing on narratives from several women, we attempt to understand how they experience cosmetic surgery in terms of their personal sense of self and their everyday social reality.

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Author Biographies

Alessandra K. Heggenstaller, Alessandra K. Heggenstaller, Asta Rau, Jan K. Coetzee - University of the Free State, South Africa

Alessandra K. Heggenstaller is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the program The Narrative Study of Lives, Department of Sociology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Asta Rau

Asta Rau is the outgoing Director of the Centre for Health Systems Research & Development at the University of the Free State, South Africa. She works in a range of qualitative and mixed-method designs and currently leads a project in partnership with the University of Antwerp on HIV and TB stigma among healthcare workers.

Jan K. Coetzee

Jan K. Coetzee is a Senior Professor of Sociology and Director of the program The Narrative Study of Lives in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He specializes in qualitative sociology and serves on several international advisory boards.

Ria Smit, Lone Star College, U.S.A., University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Ria Smit is a sociologist specializing in family and migrations studies. She is affiliated to Lone Star College, Houston, USA and is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Anne Ryen, University of Agder, Norway

Anne Ryen is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway.

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