When it comes to current attitudes about surgery, the practice of dismissing the cultural context and rationalizing it as individual betterment flattens the terrain of power relations. In other words, we can talk about doing it for us until our high-end lipstick flakes off, but we should also keep in mind that we probably wouldn't even be thinking about what life would be like with a new nose or perkier breasts or shapelier inner thighs if it weren't for a long-standing cultural ideal that rewards those who adhere to it with power that often doesn't speak its name, but is instantly recognizable to those who don't have it.
~ Andi Zeisler
