Trading and Managing Stigma

Despite the popularity of cosmetic surgery and a decrease in medical risks associated with breast implant surgeries, there remains both social and cultural stigma attached to those who undergo the procedure. Although a variety of perspectives have been examined in research on cosmetic surgeries, sociological attention toward stigma and cosmetic surgery is underdeveloped. Through in-depth interviews of twenty women with breast implants, I explore stigma as it manifests in women’s accounts of breast implant surgery experiences, both pre and post surgery. Aligning with Goffman’s concept of stigma, for the study participants, breast implant surgery represents a motivation for reducing visibility of a physical stigma, and a consequence of making a stigmatized choice leading to character blemishes and tribal stigma. As they confront new stigmas post cosmetic surgery, women with breast implants engage in various stigma management strategies.