Venus Envy: A History of Cosmetic Surgery

Face lifts, nose jobs, breast implants, liposuction, collagen injectionsthe body at the end of the twentieth century has become endlessly mutable, and surgical alteration has become an accepted part of American culture. In Venus Envy, Elizabeth Haiken traces the quest for physical perfection through surgery from the turn of the century to the present. Drawing on a wide array of sourcespersonal accounts, medical records, popular magazines, medical journals, and beauty guidesHaiken reveals how our culture came to see cosmetic surgery as a panacea for both individual and social problems.