2008 Woodie Awards
Moms, Made-Over
Molly McLaughlin
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Vanities
"You may be a mommy, but never forget that you are still your own person."
www.amommymakeover.com
At www.amommymakeover.com, mothers of all ages can learn about plastic surgery procedures offered to reverse "unwanted" physical effects of childbirth. Plastic surgery packages marketed as "mommy makeovers" typically include a breast lift either with or without implants, a tummy tuck, and liposuction. The mommy makeover promises that women who feel disappointed and ashamed of their post-baby bodies will regain their former happiness and confidence through a series of medically unnecessary surgical procedures. Marketing techniques for mommy makeovers include messages of freedom and reward. Women who have gone through so much in pregnancy and motherhood deserve to have these surgeries. "For many women cosmetic surgery is a well-deserved reward after the physical and emotional challenges of motherhood," claims the website marinaplasticsurgery.com. The mommy makeover can free women from the negative body image that is actually propagated by surgeons who have framed post-baby bodies as abnormal. This all begs the question--has the amazing gift of reproduction been reframed as something that ruins a woman's body?
Women are incessantly cautioned that in order to be happy they must have children. No matter how successful her career or personal life, a woman is led to believe that without children she will never feel fulfilled. Today, the expectations surrounding pregnancy extend beyond actual reproduction. Women mustn't gain much weight during their pregnancy. Women are expected to lose all their pregnancy weight, and preferably a bit more, extremely quickly after childbirth. Women's bodies should show no sign of having served their natural function, especially since popular discourse surrounding women's bodies has rendered the physical aftereffects of pregnancy disgusting.
The bar for this quick turnaround has been raised ever higher by obsessive media attention focused on celebrities who miraculously look just as they did pre-baby five weeks after they give birth. This has translated into an expectancy for real-life new mothers to lose weight by somehow finding the time and energy to care for a newborn and exercise for several hours a day. Women who gain minimal weight are praised while women who gain what is in fact a normal amount of weight are described as "huge." Lisa Marie Presley recently sued the Daily Mail, which had written fanatically about her sudden weight gain, accusing her of heading down her father's road to obesity and death. In fact, she was pregnant. Lisa Marie's complained that the unforgiving coverage on her weight gain forced her to give up her right to privacy and reveal her pregnancy. When a very pregnant Christina Aguilera posed from Marie Claire magazine, she was simultaneously praised for being so slim (a slimness which was undoubtedly aided by airbrushing) and lambasted for being disgusting. A blog post on the website dlisted.com claimed that the issue "didn't sell, because people were too busy throwing up."
Since when did being "pregnant" become being "fat?"
"The severe physical trauma of pregnancy, childbirth, and breast-feeding can have profound negative effects that cause women to lose their hourglass figures."
This quote from a plastic surgeon, taken from a New York Times article on mommy makeovers, illustrates how society has problematized women's post-pregnancy bodies. In order to sell their products, plastic surgeons have always attempted to classify more and more bodies as unnatural, a process Michel Foucault refers to as the medicalization of the body. A problem is created in order to prescribe a solution, which allows someone to sell a product. Following Foucaultian theory, the mommy makeover is medicalizing the natural body as unnatural or abnormal in order to extend power over it. If women and men can be sold on the idea that a post-baby body is unnatural or repulsive, they can easily be sold on ways to "fix" it.
When looked at realistically, there is nothing innately wrong with women's post-baby bodies. Surgeons say women complain of sagging, uneven, deflated breasts, flabby stomachs that refuse to be reshaped by exercise, and fat redistribution to areas that had previously been slim. Women are described as being not only unhappy but also resentful about their post-baby bodies. Where is this resentment directed? We've all heard women talk about "sacrificing" their bodies for their children. Could this resentment reach a level that women would actually resent their children or regret having had them? Could the high expectations for women's appearances be contributing to higher levels of postpartum depression? It would seem these new body concerns not only put more money in the plastic surgeon's pocket, but the psychologist as well.
It seems that a woman can no longer just have children and be accepted as having performed the wondrous task the whole world relies upon. She must hide and eliminate all signs of having ever been pregnant by resorting to extreme and potentially dangerous measures to regain her form physique. Actually having a child is great, but the world is certainly not interested in seeing signs of it. A woman is supposed to feel fulfilled and happy from having children, but it has also been normalized for her to feel worse about herself physically.
Warning: this video shows graphic images of surgical procedures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msYJ9r51ZR8&NR=1
This video about a woman who underwent a mommy makeover has several interesting points to analyze. One is how the woman, Angela, describes the way in which her post-baby body has deeply affected not only the way she feels about herself, but also how she interacts with her family. Angela says that she can't go out on dates with her husband and that she doesn't even enjoy going to the beach with her children. Her body image is so negative that it is actually preventing her from spending time with her family.
Another very interesting aspect is the dynamic between Angela and her husband. She doesn't think he is attracted to her anymore, even though he says he tells her she looks beautiful. Angela's feelings about her body, which most likely stem from an internalization of our society's degradation of women's bodies during and after pregnancy, actually outweigh her husband's claims that he still finds her attractive. Angela insinuates that she has a better understanding of her husband's feelings than he does. When he compliments her she knows "he believes it in his heart, but I don't think he believes it with his eyes." After the surgery, more time is spent talking about her husband's reaction to Angela's new body than how she herself feels about it. The entire end of the video is spent showing Angela trying on outfits for him and talking about how he "can't keep his hands off her" while he describes how her new body has almost caused two traffic accidents and how excited he is to have the "real" her back.
Warning: this video shows graphic images of surgical procedures
www.amommymakeover.com
At www.amommymakeover.com, mothers of all ages can learn about plastic surgery procedures offered to reverse "unwanted" physical effects of childbirth. Plastic surgery packages marketed as "mommy makeovers" typically include a breast lift either with or without implants, a tummy tuck, and liposuction. The mommy makeover promises that women who feel disappointed and ashamed of their post-baby bodies will regain their former happiness and confidence through a series of medically unnecessary surgical procedures. Marketing techniques for mommy makeovers include messages of freedom and reward. Women who have gone through so much in pregnancy and motherhood deserve to have these surgeries. "For many women cosmetic surgery is a well-deserved reward after the physical and emotional challenges of motherhood," claims the website marinaplasticsurgery.com. The mommy makeover can free women from the negative body image that is actually propagated by surgeons who have framed post-baby bodies as abnormal. This all begs the question--has the amazing gift of reproduction been reframed as something that ruins a woman's body?
Women are incessantly cautioned that in order to be happy they must have children. No matter how successful her career or personal life, a woman is led to believe that without children she will never feel fulfilled. Today, the expectations surrounding pregnancy extend beyond actual reproduction. Women mustn't gain much weight during their pregnancy. Women are expected to lose all their pregnancy weight, and preferably a bit more, extremely quickly after childbirth. Women's bodies should show no sign of having served their natural function, especially since popular discourse surrounding women's bodies has rendered the physical aftereffects of pregnancy disgusting.
The bar for this quick turnaround has been raised ever higher by obsessive media attention focused on celebrities who miraculously look just as they did pre-baby five weeks after they give birth. This has translated into an expectancy for real-life new mothers to lose weight by somehow finding the time and energy to care for a newborn and exercise for several hours a day. Women who gain minimal weight are praised while women who gain what is in fact a normal amount of weight are described as "huge." Lisa Marie Presley recently sued the Daily Mail, which had written fanatically about her sudden weight gain, accusing her of heading down her father's road to obesity and death. In fact, she was pregnant. Lisa Marie's complained that the unforgiving coverage on her weight gain forced her to give up her right to privacy and reveal her pregnancy. When a very pregnant Christina Aguilera posed from Marie Claire magazine, she was simultaneously praised for being so slim (a slimness which was undoubtedly aided by airbrushing) and lambasted for being disgusting. A blog post on the website dlisted.com claimed that the issue "didn't sell, because people were too busy throwing up."
Since when did being "pregnant" become being "fat?"
"The severe physical trauma of pregnancy, childbirth, and breast-feeding can have profound negative effects that cause women to lose their hourglass figures."
This quote from a plastic surgeon, taken from a New York Times article on mommy makeovers, illustrates how society has problematized women's post-pregnancy bodies. In order to sell their products, plastic surgeons have always attempted to classify more and more bodies as unnatural, a process Michel Foucault refers to as the medicalization of the body. A problem is created in order to prescribe a solution, which allows someone to sell a product. Following Foucaultian theory, the mommy makeover is medicalizing the natural body as unnatural or abnormal in order to extend power over it. If women and men can be sold on the idea that a post-baby body is unnatural or repulsive, they can easily be sold on ways to "fix" it.
When looked at realistically, there is nothing innately wrong with women's post-baby bodies. Surgeons say women complain of sagging, uneven, deflated breasts, flabby stomachs that refuse to be reshaped by exercise, and fat redistribution to areas that had previously been slim. Women are described as being not only unhappy but also resentful about their post-baby bodies. Where is this resentment directed? We've all heard women talk about "sacrificing" their bodies for their children. Could this resentment reach a level that women would actually resent their children or regret having had them? Could the high expectations for women's appearances be contributing to higher levels of postpartum depression? It would seem these new body concerns not only put more money in the plastic surgeon's pocket, but the psychologist as well.
It seems that a woman can no longer just have children and be accepted as having performed the wondrous task the whole world relies upon. She must hide and eliminate all signs of having ever been pregnant by resorting to extreme and potentially dangerous measures to regain her form physique. Actually having a child is great, but the world is certainly not interested in seeing signs of it. A woman is supposed to feel fulfilled and happy from having children, but it has also been normalized for her to feel worse about herself physically.
Warning: this video shows graphic images of surgical procedures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msYJ9r51ZR8&NR=1
This video about a woman who underwent a mommy makeover has several interesting points to analyze. One is how the woman, Angela, describes the way in which her post-baby body has deeply affected not only the way she feels about herself, but also how she interacts with her family. Angela says that she can't go out on dates with her husband and that she doesn't even enjoy going to the beach with her children. Her body image is so negative that it is actually preventing her from spending time with her family.
Another very interesting aspect is the dynamic between Angela and her husband. She doesn't think he is attracted to her anymore, even though he says he tells her she looks beautiful. Angela's feelings about her body, which most likely stem from an internalization of our society's degradation of women's bodies during and after pregnancy, actually outweigh her husband's claims that he still finds her attractive. Angela insinuates that she has a better understanding of her husband's feelings than he does. When he compliments her she knows "he believes it in his heart, but I don't think he believes it with his eyes." After the surgery, more time is spent talking about her husband's reaction to Angela's new body than how she herself feels about it. The entire end of the video is spent showing Angela trying on outfits for him and talking about how he "can't keep his hands off her" while he describes how her new body has almost caused two traffic accidents and how excited he is to have the "real" her back.
Warning: this video shows graphic images of surgical procedures
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