Clinics of Oblivion: Makeover Culture and Cosmetic Surgery

Meredith Jones

doi:10.5130/portal.v8i2.1843

Abstract

This paper examines cosmetic surgery tourism, arguing that it can be meaningfully analysed as part of makeover culture. It shows that while cosmetic surgery tourism sits at a junction of cosmetic surgery and medical tourism, it also has much in common with contemporary tourism practices. The paper posits cosmetic surgery tourism not only as an economic and globalised phenomenon but also as a set of practices that are experienced, and that take place on the body (see also Cook, 2010; Bell et al. 2011). Chris Rojek’s work on contemporary tourist practices is deployed in order to argue that the cosmetic surgery tourist’s body is itself the ‘site’ to be visited and discovered; it is also the souvenir that is brought home. When body and site are brought together in cosmetic surgery tourism, they form a potent nexus that is unique to a contemporary moment tied up with globalisation and consumption, where both identity and self-transformation are managed through the body.

Highlights

Data drawn upon in this paper comes from a pilot study conducted in mid-2009, which examined Australians seeking cosmetic surgery in Thailand, a country whose cities, beaches and islands have long been popular destinations for Australian holiday-makers
Participants were sourced via a cosmetic surgery tourism consultant in Sydney who had an ongoing contract with Yanhee hospital
In terms of tourist sites, I argue that the cosmetic surgery recipient’s own body is the site to be ‘discovered’ and experienced. This is not confined to cosmetic surgery tourism: many people bring home corporeal souvenirs of their travels: a tan, a tattoo, a scar, a piercing

Summary

Introduction

Data drawn upon in this paper comes from a pilot study conducted in mid-2009 (funded by the University of Technology, Sydney), which examined Australians seeking cosmetic surgery in Thailand, a country whose cities, beaches and islands have long been popular destinations for Australian holiday-makers. The cosmetic surgery tourists I interviewed had purchased their operations in packages that included airfares, transfers, hospital and hotel accommodation, surgery and anaesthetic costs. The overall cost was approximately a third of the price of their surgery alone at home. Nine Australian residents participated, all were interviewed in Australia prior to travel, five were interviewed whilst in Bangkok seeking surgery at the Yanhee Hospital and eight were re-interviewed upon return to Australia. One participant chose not to continue with the project after the first interview

Clinics of Oblivion

Conclusion

Reference List