Plastic “Perfection”

Examining the Role of Autonomy in Cosmetic Surgery

Abstract

The concepts of individual autonomy and freedom of choice are prevailing trademarks of Western postmodernity. Using Michel Foucault’s concept of the manifestations of power in conjunction with Susan Bordo’s critique of postmodernity, I will argue that the postmodern concept of “choice” is not the product of pure individual autonomy. Rather, societal norms, history, and hegemonic power structures play an insidious part in forming the choices people make. In applying these concepts to cultural standards of beauty and the increasingly normalized practice of cosmetic surgery, I shall provide an examination of how power structures coercively maintain women’s subordination and oppression through a veil of absolute self-determination and choice.