This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Davis, K. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Davis, K. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Pygmalions in plastic surgery

University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

This article focuses on the gendered underpinnings of the profession of plastic surgery, drawing upon a popular autobiography of a plastic surgeon. Written at a time when plastic surgery made its entrance as a legitimate branch of medicine, the author presents himself as a mouthpiece of his profession, as the person whose task it is to explain the wonders of the ‘noble and compassionate’ practice of plastic surgery to disbelieving critics, both within and outside the field. As such, it provides a resource for understanding the discourses which shaped – and continue – to shape the profession of plastic surgery. By analysing the textual practices which the author employs to construct his life as the idealized story of a plastic surgeon, the professional ideology of plastic surgery as well as the construction of masculinity in its professionalized form will be explored.

Key Words: autobiography • gender • masculinity • medical, professional, or scientific discourse • plastic surgery • Pygmalion complex

Health:, Vol. 2, No. 1, 23-40 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/136345939800200102


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. DAVIS `A Dubious Equality': Men, Women and Cosmetic Surgery Body Society, March 1, 2002; 8(1): 49 - 65. [Abstract] [PDF]