Anna Lauder

Cosmetic surgery may seem to be a product of modern science, but it is a practice that has continued to be improved upon since the Middle Ages. This information was documented through drawings by the surgeon Johannes Scultetus. To build upon beauty’s association with morality, historians credit cosmetic surgery’s origins to the reconstructive work syphilis patients received to reconstruct their nose in order to avoid stigma. 'Plastic surgery' is the term given for elective surgeries that do not contribute to the improvement of health. The name was coined by Pierre Joseph Desault in 1798. Cosmetic or ksmetiké comes from the Greek word for 'adornment' and was used to describe female engagement in beautification. The etymology for plastic is plastikos, or 'fit for moulding'.

In Making The Body Beautiful, Gilman argues that the purpose of plastic surgery is to pass as someone different than the way that they were born, whether it be a different gender, race, or age group. Plastic surgery’s origin stems from reconstruction, its history is also linked to racial assimilation in the western world. In Asia, double eyelid surgery was used to get rid of the patients’ mono-lids and rhinoplasty was used to raise the height of the nose bridge. In contrast, those with Irish and Jewish ancestry would strive to minimise the shape of their nose.

The term for this is 'pecuniary emulation', the adoption of traits to pass as someone with wealth or power. In Face Value: The Politics of Beauty pecuniary emulation is reinforced: 'Beauty was not just a product of wealth, but a commodity in and of itself...Now beauty could give the illusion of wealth.' This theory has the ability to explain why surgery started to be adopted to achieve the racial ambiguity that Gilman addresses. When there are social advantages to adopting one's face to racially assimilate, it makes it easier to understand why many are willing to invest in undergoing cosmetic surgery. It is an attempt to improve their lives. The adoption of traits from other ethnic groups through makeup and surgery continues to occur today, but instead they align with online beauty trends.

While surgery may give one an appearance that is accepted, it continues to be weighed down by beauty’s ties with morality. Similar to cosmetic products, many believe that changing one's face is untruthful and, to do so, vain. In a call for authenticity, surgeon Lionel Trilling argued: 'the surgeons who perform such operations, it is urged, merely pander to vanity, which is an offshoot of the Deadly Sin of pride.' Trilling’s opinion has not affected the number of cosmetic procedures performed.

The desire to present a curated life online has contributed to aesthetic surgery. After numerous patients began requesting procedures citing the photo-sharing app Snapchat, doctor Tijion Esho coined the term 'Snapchat Dysmorphia'. The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery reported that they had a 15 per cent growth in patients looking to improve their selfies in a single year. This request accounted for 72 per cent of appointments.

In her piece 'The Age of Instagram Face' for The New Yorker, Jia Tolentino describes the new ideal as one that appropriates the 'best' features from each race into one cyborgian face. The writer documents her fieldwork in which she poses as a patient, inquiring what procedures she would need to undergo to achieve 'the look'. The interviews given by surgeons provide insight into their process which includes the use of the photo editing app Facetune in their clinic.

'Snapchat dysmorphia' is a product of 21st century augmented reality, but it is not the first instance technology has been used as a tool to depict desired post-operation results. In 1987 the French performance artist Orlan, created a face composite using the features of famous female subjects in western art on a computer program. She then underwent nine surgical procedures to acquire the traits depicted by artists including Leonardo di Vinci, Gustave Moreau, and Sandro Botticelli, for her piece, The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan.

My thesis sets out to understand how social media is informing contemporary beauty standards. In chapter one, the topic is introduced with the origins of beauty standards before mass media, which center around authenticity and morality. This is followed by the history of magazines, cosmetic surgery, and photo manipulation before the emergence of social media. Chapter two focuses on self presentation management, the rise in cosmetic surgery requests, and the factor of the limited media effects model. Chapter three consists of primary research extracted from interviews conducted with seven women. In this research, I find that authenticity in images continues to be a conversation in social media, just as the discourse on cosmetics was in the 18th century. This paper concludes that the presence of peers on social media is a stronger influence than traditional mass media, such as television and magazines. The Internet has disrupted the linear transmission model that legacy media originally followed. Users show their interest by engaging with their favorite opinion leaders, and, in order to retain their audience, publications feature what the readers want.