The Body Beautiful

Nose reconstructions have been common in India for centuries. South Korea, Brazil, and Israel have become international centers for procedures ranging from eyelid restructuring to buttock lifts and tummy tucks. Argentina has the highest rate of silicone implants in the world. Around the globe, aesthetic surgery has become a cultural and medical fixture. Sander Gilman seeks to explain why by presenting the first systematic world history and cultural theory of aesthetic surgery. Touching on subjects as diverse as getting a "nose job" as a sweet-sixteen birthday present and the removal of male breasts in seventh-century Alexandria, Gilman argues that aesthetic surgery has such universal appeal because it helps people to "pass," to be seen as a member of a group with which they want to or need to identify. Gilman begins by addressing basic questions about the history of aesthetic surgery. What surgical procedures have been performed? Which are considered aesthetic and why? Who are the patients? What is the place of aesthetic surgery in modern culture? He then turns his attention to that focus of countless human anxieties: the nose. Gilman discusses how people have reshaped their noses to repair the ravages of war and disease (principally syphilis), to match prevailing ideas of beauty, and to avoid association with negative images of the "Jew," the "Irish," the "Oriental," or the "Black." He examines how we have used aesthetic surgery on almost every conceivable part of the body to try to pass as younger, stronger, thinner, and more erotic. Gilman also explores some of the extremes of surgery as personal transformation, discussing transgender surgery, adult circumcision and foreskin restoration, the enhancement of dueling scars, and even a performance artist who had herself altered to resemble the Mona Lisa. The book draws on an extraordinary range of sources. Gilman is as comfortable discussing Nietzsche, Yeats, and Darwin as he is grisly medical details, Michael Jackson, and Barbra Streisand's decision to keep her own nose. The book contains dozens of arresting images of people before, during, and after surgery. This is a profound, provocative, and engaging study of how humans have sought to change their lives by transforming their bodies.

The popular medical correspondent challenges women to reinvent their health and wellness routines, and to make midlife their most vibrant years. The world is realizing that a woman’s thirties and forties can be the most beautiful, energetic, and passionate time of her life. Dr. Jennifer Ashton is America’s fastest-rising women’s health expert and medical television personality. Here in her health book for women, she outlines a powerful approach to health care that can help unleash new energy, strength, and sexiness. Integrating the latest scientific research, her five-part plan includes: A simple eating regimen tailored for your changing metabolism. A fitness program to help you work out harder in less time. Stress-reduction techniques and simple strategies for relaxation. An effective, step-by-step sleep plan. Prevention advice for reducing your risk of heart disease, cancer, and other potentially fatal ailments. Authoritative yet written in a friendly, girlfriend-to-girlfriend voice, Your Body Beautiful and its transformative strategies will help you look and feel more vibrant than ever.

In this volume, contributors from a range of perspectives - evolutionary psychology to anthropology, sociology to cognitive and motivational psychology - explore questions of what our attractiveness preferences are and why we find certain others physically attractive, offering a fresh perspective to understanding the perception of attractiveness.

Todd (kinesiology and health education, U. of Texas, Austin) discusses the diverse spectrum of women's exercise in the antebellum era-- especially exercise systems related to an ideal of womanhood--and the ways that purposive training influenced American women physically, intellectually, and emotionally. She also considers the contributions of several physical education figures: Sarah Pierce, Mary Lyon, William Bentley Fowle, Catherine Beecher, David P. Butler, Dio Lewis, and the phrenologist Orson S. Fowler. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

For years Christiane Northrup, M.D., has taught women about heath, wellness, and the miracle of their bodies. Now, in her first children’s book, she presents her wonderful wisdom to the youngest of girls. Beautiful Girl presents this simple but important message: that to be born a girl is a very special thing and carries with it magical gifts and powers that must be recognized and nurtured. Through these empowering words and illustrations, little girls will learn how their bodies are perfect just the way they are, the importance of treating themselves with gentle care, and how changes are just a part of growing up. Dr. Northrup believes that reading and discussing this book with your girls will help them to value the wonder and uniqueness of their bodies and have positive benefits that will last throughout their lives.

Published to accompany the exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 6 December 2001 - 3 March 2002.

Drs. Lindsay and Lexie Kite know firsthand how hard filtering out media influence is when it comes to self-image. Both struggled as young women to overcome the expectations of body size and shape, but were able to learn to love, appreciate, and reclaim their own bodies, eventually earning their PhDs in body image resilience. The twin sisters founded the nonprofit Beauty Redefined and have made it their mission to help other women see themselves without societal expectations distorting their self-perception. More than a Body is a self-help book focused on going beyond body positivity, showing how a mindset focused on appearance sets women up for insecurities and self-judgement. In this book, they offer an action plan for readers to combat that mindset, and instead learn how the body can be "an instrument, not an ornament," with practical, actionable steps to take when consuming media, exercising, practicing self-reflection and self-compassion, and finding a purpose in life.