Scholarly+articles

Kaw, Eugenia. “Medicalization of Racial Features: Asian American Women and Cosmetic Surgery.” __Medical Anthropology Quarterly__. 7(1) (1993): 74-89.__JSTOR__. Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association. Springfield Twp. HS Lib. 14 May 2009. .
 * Works Cited- Scholarly Articles **

A recipient of the Steven Polgar Prize from the Society for Medical Anthropology, Eugenia Kaw is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.In the early 1990s she performed doctoral work in anthropology at Princeton University, and she also has studied in Thailand to comprehend Theravada Buddhists’ view of industrialization.Generally, Kaw’s area of study focuses on perception of sexuality, ethnicity and race in Southeast Asia, especially in the postcolonial era.In “Medicalization of Racial Features,” Kaw analyzes and explains the effects of medical advertisement and a consumer-based society on Asian-American women’s self-perception and obsession with plastic surgery, focused in the San Francisco Bay area.Recognizing the plastic surgery industry for bringing in an estimate of $300 million per year in 1991, Kaw emphasizes how in 1990 20% of surgeries were performed on Hispanic, African-American, or Asian American women (74-75).Specifically, Asian American women especially sought after eyelid-creasing procedures, nasal bridge implants, and nasal tip refinement (75). Very extensive and elaborate, the article draws information from interviews with plastic surgeons and patients, medical literary material, and medical data.This information contributes to my thesis as it helps justify the concept of a universal image of beauty based on western appearances.

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Morgan, Kathryn Pauly.“Women and the Knife: Cosmetic Surgery and the Colonization of Women’s Bodies.”__Hypatia__.Vol. 6, No. 3, Feminism and the Body (Autumn, 1991): 25-53.__JSTOR__.Indiana University Press.Springfield Twp. HS Lib. 14 May 2009. .

At the University of Toronto, Kathryn Pauly Morgan works as a professor of philosophy, women’s studies, and bioethics.With a somewhat feminist outlook, she notes the growth of the cosmetic surgery industry and its direction at women through celebrities and the media, in relation to the modernization of biotechnology.Overall, through extensively deep analysis, Morgan evaluates how artificially altered appearances are becoming “normalized.”This piece supports my thesis as it describes the causes and sociological effects of cosmetic surgery today.

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