ABSTRACT
While the techniques of plastic surgery, most notably nose reconstructions, have been around since 3000 BC, modern cosmetic surgery has its origins at the turn of the last century. Although the typical cosmetic surgery recipient is a woman, the surgeon is almost always a man. This chapter explores the gendered underpinnings of the profession of cosmetic surgery. It contends that if women's decisions to undergo cosmetic surgery can be linked to the practices and discourses of femininity, then men's decisions to perform cosmetic surgery should also bear a connection to the practices and discourses of masculinity. The chapter examines a popular autobiography by a male plastic surgeon, entitled Dr. Pygmalion. By analyzing the textual practices which the author employs to construct his life as the idealized story of the plastic surgeon, the professional ideology of plastic surgery as well as the construction of masculinity in its professionalized form can be explored.
