“Objectifying the Face”: Visualization Technologies and Doctor-Patient Communication in Cosmetic Surgery

• In Event: Technoscience, Aesthetics, and the Senses - II

Abstract

How do cosmetic surgeons and patients negotiate their aesthetic senses and decide upon a surgical look? In the absence of clearly codified standards, I find that surgeons and patients rely on images and the “language” of the visual to communicate about beauty. This paper examines how cosmetic surgeons diagnose problems and materialize solutions using images and visualization technologies. These range from the familiar and mundane to the complex, from glossy photographs in magazines or photographs taken by cosmetic surgeons of patients before and after surgery to 3D imaging camera and software packages. Drawing on over 60 interviews with cosmetic surgeons in the U.S. and Asia, ethnographic observation of surgeon-patient clinical interactions, and observations of cosmetic surgery professional meetings, I analyze how surgeons use photographs of the patient (or a patient-identified model) to diagnose patients’ physical defects, simulate the anticipated surgical result, and document changes in patients’ appearance before and after surgical alteration. In addition, they “morph” photographs of prospective patients to illustrate projected surgical outcomes. Communicating in visual terms allows cosmetic surgeons to explore the racial and gendered meanings of physical appearances and the motivations of patients without explicitly discussing sensitive subjects, insulating themselves from potentially offending patients. This research contributes to our understanding of the visual and the aesthetic in STS. It also highlights the importance of mundane technologies in the clinical encounter.

Author

• Alka Menon, Yale University