Reshaping the Female Body by Kathy Davis

Author:Kathy Davis [Davis, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Feminism & Feminist Theory, Women's Studies, Media Studies
ISBN: 9781135207007
Google: CcFYAQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-10-15T05:51:27+00:00

This story paves the way for an interpretation of cosmetic surgery as a remedy for social practices of exclusion and derogation. Diana describes her body as different than the dominant norms for physical beauty. Like people of color, she runs the risk of being subjected to public humiliation on the basis of how her body looks. By highlighting the shared features of racism and her own experience of harassment, the reactions to her appearance can be presented as oppressive. While this rhetorical strategy is part of her justification for having cosmetic surgery, it can also backfire.13 Diana seems to anticipate the objection that these experiences are different by pointing out herself how they are not alike: while people of color have the option of celebrating “difference,” she is merely stigmatized by it.

Having drawn upon the arguments of difference and exclusion as a defense for her decision to have cosmetic surgery, Diana then proceeds to deconstruct these same arguments. In other words, she argues against her previous position that her appearance had made her different from other people and had accounted for her being subjected to special forms of oppression. In so doing, she seems to be building a case for why cosmetic surgery was not strictly necessary in her case, and, more generally, should not be regarded as an acceptable solution for people’s difficulties with their appearance.

At first glance, Diana seems to be oddly self-contradictory. However, taken together, these reversals in opinion strengthen rather than weaken her case. Let us take a closer look.

Reflecting on the problem of harassment, Diana explains that while “people’s reactions can be really harsh” and that it “can be pretty awful,” she also knows that “if I had been someone else, I wouldn’t have found me attractive either.” While she finds it offensive that “you’re always supposed to toe the line,” she is quick to amend that it is “not so much about being a victim.” Hesitating, she reasons:

You know, people just get irritated when you deviate from the norm, (pause) And, well, I notice myself that when I look at other people who—you know—have something different, that I’m just as harsh. I’m not one bit better, even though I’ve gone through it all myself.

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