Amending the abject body : aesthetic makeovers in medicine and culture / Deborah Caslav Covino.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Covino, Deborah Caslav, 1960-

Series:

SUNY series in feminist criticism and theory.

SUNY series in feminist criticism and theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Body image in women.

Self-perception in women.

Women--Physiology.

Women.

Human body--Social aspects.

Human body.

Surgery, Plastic.

Feminist theory.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (163 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : State University of New York Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Feminist theorists have often argued that aesthetic surgeries and body makeovers dehumanize and disempower women patients, whose efforts at self-improvement lead to their objectification. Amending the Abject Body proposes that although objectification is an important element in this phenomenon, the explosive growth of "makeover culture" can be understood as a process of both abjection (ridding ourselves of the unwanted) and identification (joining the community of what Julia Kristeva calls "clean and proper bodies"). Drawing from the advertisement and advocacy of body makeovers on television, in aesthetic surgery trade books, and in the print and Web-based marketing of face lifts, tummy tucks, and Botox injections, Deborah Caslav Covino articulates the relationship among objectification, abjection, and identification, and offers a fuller understanding of contemporary beauty-desire.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Abjection

Normalizing the Body

Outside-In

“I’m Doing it for Me”

Making Over Abjection

Conclusion

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-148) and index.

ISBN:

9780791484333

0791484335

9781423740261

1423740262

OCLC:

62757052