No More Taboo: Discursive tactics for navigating the taboo of cosmetic surgery

Wong, Ka Yee Janice

doi:10.1177/2059436418816649

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The Face resizing features-allowing users to adjust nose, eyes, forehead, and lips by size and position-speak to a Chinese and Korean conception of proportionality achieved through plastic surgery style alterations (Abidin, 2016). Further, the naming of tools like heal, bandage, cleanse, and fix connect with an East Asian conception of plastic surgery as a healthful, restorative practice (Wong, 2018).…”

Section: Discussion/ Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction/ Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using a Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA), we highlight how this friction resulted in differing East Asian cultural beliefs around technological practice (Brock, 2018). Procedures such as plastic surgery that are stigmatized in the U.S. have been accepted as tools of upward mobility in South Korea and increasingly China (Wong, 2018). We find the practice of image editing in East Asia follows a similar logic: as transformations allowing one to achieve a better self.While American platforms have sought to uphold the realist view, with Instagram even "removing all plastic surgery-style tools" in 2019, popular Chinese and Korean apps like BeautyPlus and SNOW approach the image as a plastic object (Spark, 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The New Selfie Standard: Facetune and the Shift Toward East Asian Selfie Aesthetics

Swerzenski¹,

Kim²

2021

SPIR

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Since its release in 2013, Facetune has risen to become the top paid photo and video app in the US. In this study, we document that the types of retouching tools Facetune make available mark a more significant shift in the American cultural practice of image editing, signaling an adoption of East Asian attitudes toward beauty standards and the plasticity of the image. Working within the Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) framework, we track this shift by undertaking a Walkthrough Analysis of the Facetune app. This combination of methods allowed us to examine not only cultural beliefs around the self-image but also the affordances and materiality of the app by directly engaging the interface and technical functions of the app. We found evidence of Facetune pushing certain East Asian beauty ideals that may fall outside of American standards such as the Face resizing features that allow users to adjust nose, eyes, forehead, and lips by size and position. Furthermore, Facetune uses the photo not in its traditional role as a vessel for depicting a certain scene in time, but as a blank canvas on which to produce an ideal digital self. These findings offer a significant contribution in understanding shifting image editing practices online, particularly by highlighting the new technological tools and cultural beliefs that are leading this shift.

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Section: Discussion/ Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction/ Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The New Selfie Standard: Facetune and the Shift Toward East Asian Selfie Aesthetics

Swerzenski¹,

Kim²

2021

SPIR

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“…In other Asian countries, an underlying cultural unease about cosmetic surgery persists more strongly still. Chinese plastic surgery tourism to South Korea, despite its popularity, is still surrounded by anxieties and taboos (Wong, 2018), and in Malaysia even cosmetic surgeons themselves reportedly associate the Korean industry with "perverted excess" and "modernity run amok" (Menon, 2019, p. 8).…”

Section: Concluding Thoughtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body Modification in East Asia: History and Debates

Henley

Porath

2020

Asian Studies Review

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This article outlines the long-term historical development of body modification in East (Northeast and Southeast) Asia, from the intentionally transformative practices of prehistory, such as tattooing and tooth blackening, to the "naturalistic" practices of the 20 th century, such as cosmetic surgery, which aim to leave no visible evidence of change. Attention is also paid to the recent postmodern revival of transformative body fashions. Asian developments are discussed in global context, and comparative international statistics are provided on cosmetic surgery prevalence. The remainder of the article addresses important questions of interpretation. To what extent does Asia's current cosmetic surgery boom reflect universal processes and experiences of modernity, and to what extent culturally specific desires and developments? To what extent are current Asian beauty ideals and practices, notably the almost universal desire for fair skin, variations on indigenous traditions, legacies of colonialism, products of Western cultural hegemony, or consequences of a broader, cosmopolitan globalisation? A final section asks whether the recent expansionary trend in cosmetic body modification is likely to continue undiminished, or encounter effective forces of opposition in Asian societies.

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“…In 2018, there were about 500 plastic surgery clinics in Apgujeong-dong, which is called "Plastic Surgery Street" in South Korea. Plastic surgery in fact is now the main export product of South Korea (Wong 2018). Statistical data of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPA) in 2016 state that the aesthetic medicine industry in Brazil, France, and other countries that have developed their own aesthetic medicine industry has been relatively stable with an annual average compound growth rate of 5-10%.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Criteria of Optimal Training Cost Allocation for Sustainable Value in Aesthetic Medicine Industry

Lin

Yen

2020

JRFM

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Medical disputes that result in medical compensation and losses affect the financial management and sustainable operational risks of enterprises. Employee training plays an important role in the sustainable growth of human resource management and also can help avoid any potential risks to enterprises’ operating revenue. Based on data of a company, this study’s model aims to establish a mathematical model to find the most suitable decision variables in order to provide decision-making analysis and judgment of a company’s individual economic behaviors. From the second-order differential modeling method, where the functional training time of the aesthetic medicine industry (including medical errors/dispute incidences, functional training costs, and medical benefits) links to a specific functional relationship, the optimal decision-making model and evaluation criteria for the proportion of this training time under the concept of sustainable management can be constructed. The method proposed herein reduces medical errors or disputes, strengthens risk and financial management, provides customers with the best service quality, and serves as the basis for decision-making evaluation of the maximum benefits of sustainable operations.

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No More Taboo: Discursive tactics for navigating the taboo of cosmetic surgery

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

The New Selfie Standard: Facetune and the Shift Toward East Asian Selfie Aesthetics

The New Selfie Standard: Facetune and the Shift Toward East Asian Selfie Aesthetics

Body Modification in East Asia: History and Debates

The Criteria of Optimal Training Cost Allocation for Sustainable Value in Aesthetic Medicine Industry

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