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Saving Face: Disfigurement and the Politics of Appearance .
Author(s) -
Le ClainchePiel Marie
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.12290
Subject(s) - disfigurement , face (sociological concept) , beauty , aesthetics , transgender , diversity (politics) , politics , meaning (existential) , sociology , prejudice (legal term) , gender studies , psychology , social psychology , art , political science , social science , psychotherapist , law , anthropology
International audienceIn this book Talley explores the cultural meaning and social significance of repairing faces and its relationship with the disfigurement imaginary in the contemporary USA (p. 31). The apparent paradox of facial surgery is that whereas it affects one's appearance, the term refers at the same time to repair, a normalisation technique, and a life-saving procedure. Through four case studies, Talley argues that despite the diverse public targeted for surgery, facial work is presented as a necessary way to prevent people from social death. That is, modern aesthetic surgery is investigated as a space for reinforcing the stigmatisation of facial difference