- Title
- When breast is not best: young women and breast reduction surgery
- Creator
- Lamb, Tessa, Vincent, Louise
- Date
- 2011
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141832
- Identifier
- vital:38008
- Identifier
- DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2011.610978
- Description
- Most cosmetic surgery patients in South Africa are younger than 21, and in this focus we examine narrative accounts from young South African women who have chosen to undergo cosmetic breast reduction surgery. Feminist debates on cosmetic surgery have focused on the question of whether to regard women who modify their bodies in this way as active agents engaged in liberatory ‘body projects’, or whether such projects are evidence of their subjection to oppressive stereotypes and beauty norms. The latter perspective is challenged here by the participants’ characterisation of breast reduction surgery as profoundly ‘freeing’. The article deals in particular with the conscious choice of participants to knowingly risk not being able to breastfeed children in future in order to achieve a body type which conforms to their understanding of youthful beauty and sexuality.
- Format
- 9 pages, pdf
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Agenda, Lamb, T. and Vincent, L., 2011. When breast is not best–young women and breast reduction surgery. Agenda, 25(3), pp.9-17., Agenda volume 25 number 3 9 17 October 2011 2158-978X
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Taylor and Francis Online Terms and Conditions statement (https://www.tandfonline.com/terms-and-conditions)
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Collections
Gender Action Forum (GENACT)
Vincent, Louise (Prof)
RU Department of Political and International Studies
SDG 05. Gender Equality
SDG 03. Good Health and Well-Being
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | When breast is not best.pdf | 679 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |