Medicine as Culture

Medicine and Culture: Illness, Disease, and the Body in Western Societies is a book by Deborah Lupton, and despite the fact that it is primarily about illness and disease, there is some helpful information and offers insight into medical perspectives and society.

The section on functionalism is the most important because it talks about conformity, and I think that is a definite aid in the choosing or not choosing to have cosmetic procedures performed. The functionalist view sees social relationships as being preserved by people acting in certain ways defined by society. In other words, everyone has a specific role that they play, and they are expected to adhere to it. Functionalists also see disease and illness as a form of social deviance; you are no longer following the rules, and it must be fixed. This argument applies to people born with deformities; they are seen as different and more often than not become social outcasts because they have not conformed with societies perfect image. Cosmetic surgery is the answer to their prayers in a sense. They don't want to be different or singled out as strange; they want to blend in with the crowd and be just like everybody else.