Standards of beauty have been embedded in different cultures, in varying forms, from time immemorial. What endures is that women are still regarded as inferior to men.
A new proposal is reigniting an old debate about cosmetic surgery. Now it’s focused on what kind of training cosmetic surgeons should have before wielding their instruments.
State and territory health ministers have decided to restrict the title ‘surgeon’ to specially trained doctors. It’s a significant change for consumers and doctors.
Research has confirmed higher rates of body dysmorphic disorder among people seeking cosmetic procedures, but we don’t know as much about other mental health issues.
The latest plan is comprehensive, sober, realistic and the product of considerable consultation. But it’s missing a few key issues if we are to adequately protect consumers.
Linda Evangelista walks down the catwalk wearing Dior Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2008.
Photo by Toni Anne Barson Archive/WireImage
Cryolipolysis has become popular with people wanting to get rid of unwanted fat quickly. But one supermodel’s nightmare reminds us of the need for caution.
One in three Australians we surveyed had a new concern about their appearance since the pandemic began. But while minor cosmetic procedures might give some people a boost, for others it’s a bad idea.
Though Renaissance concerns about ‘borrowed flesh’ might seem outlandish and out of date, they are surprisingly relevant to the modern surgical landscape.
An advertisement for breast implants in Sydney in 2015. Advertisements often promote a ‘natural’ ideal of beauty, even when advocating surgical intervention.
Paul Millar/AAP
Some doctors’ websites give the impression that women’s genitals that diverge from the “ideal” need surgery. This is nonsense – genitals are as diverse as our faces.
People who’ve gotten nose jobs are also trying to revert to a more natural look.
Intersectionality in action: Brazilian women are organizing across class and race lines to decry inequality in a country that remains deeply ‘machista.’
Naco Doce/Reuters
Before #MeToo, Brazilian women launched #MyFirstHarrassment and marched for racial equality. Today, this feminist resurgence is tackling health care, plastic surgery, violence and more.
Beauty is still understood as a process of ongoing work and maintenance.
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The highest rates of body dysmorphic disorder are found among people seeking help from cosmetic surgeons, cosmetic dermatologists and other such specialists.
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To not screen, and then deliver cosmetic procedures to people who may have body dysmorphic disorder, goes against the medical dictum “first do no harm”.
Cosmetic surgery among men is on the rise.
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Professor - Emerging Technologies (Stem Cells) at The University of Melbourne and Group Leader - Stem Cell Ethics & Policy at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne