Books+and+reference


 * Works Cited- Books and Reference **

Landau, Elaine. __The Beauty Trap__. New York: New Discovery Books, 1994

Elaine Landau has achieved both a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism from New York University and a master’s degree in library and information science from Pratt Institute. Previously a newspaper reporter, editor, and then youth services librarian before establishing herself as a popular author, she has written over 100 nonfiction books intended for a young adult audience, such as //Why Are They Starving Themselves: Understanding Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia// and //Woman, Woman!: Feminism in America//. In //The Beauty Trap//, Landau examines the connection between the image of women in the media and its increasing effect on interest in plastic surgery, and illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia, among women in society. One example is her analysis of the concept of beauty instilled in women at a young age, through fairy tales and Barbie dolls (20, 23). Including interviews with young adult females and information from research of the time of publication, she uses a relaxed tone to communicate how the beauty and fashion industry has created a societal expectation of beauty in women. This book contributes to my thesis as it establishes a background as to why cosmetic surgery has become a growing trend in the United States.

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Sullivan, Deborah A. __Cosmetic Surgery: The Cutting Edge of Commercial Medicine in__ __America__. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2001.

A Duke Graduate and sociology professor at Arizona State University, Deborah A. Sullivan has independently published five books, such as //Women’s Magazines Drive the Demand for Cosmetic Surgery// (2005), in addition to co-writing another three. Here she presents a very mature work intended for a somewhat educated audience. Evaluating the causes as well as social, psychological, and economic effects of cosmetic surgery, Sullivan pools data from nearly two decades worth of commercial advertisements, media, medical publications, court hearings, and a few other relevant resources. She thoroughly analyzes the connections between media and the societal obsession with appearance back to the history of magazines: “As industrialization reduced the cost of cloth, pattern companies launched fashion magazines…No matter what the targeted age group, race, ethnicity, or socio-economic level, beauty products and information now command more space than homemaking in most women’s magazines” (156-7). Bringing this full circle, she notes how periodicals have come to promote a “thin-but-bosomy standard of beauty” (159). Sullivan directs this information to support her thesis: “patient demand for cosmetic surgery in response to cultural pressures to be attractive is a necessary, but insufficient explanation for its emergence as a modern body custom” (xiii). With this Ms. Sullivan also notes that the evolution of medicine and doctors’ increasing willingness to perform such procedures also add to the craze. As my thesis pertains to industrializations’ growing effect on the cosmetic surgery industry and a societal concept of beauty, this piece provides an excellent enrichment of the subject.

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