Friday, January 25, 2013

Publication: Cosmetic Surgery in China


Our PhD alumna WEN Hua has publlished her PhD thesis as a book: Buying Beauty: Cosmetic Surgery in China.

About the Book

Cosmetic surgery in China has grown rapidly in recent years of dramatic social transition. Facing fierce competition in all spheres of daily life, more and more women consider cosmetic surgery as an investment to gain “beauty capital” to increase opportunities for social and career success.

Building on rich ethnographic data, this book presents the perspectives of women who have undergone cosmetic surgery, illuminating the aspirations behind their choices. Wen Hua explores how turbulent economic, sociocultural, and political changes in China since the 1980s have produced immense anxiety that is experienced both mentally and corporeally. This book will appeal to readers who are interested in gender studies, China studies, anthropology and sociology of the body, and cultural studies.

About the Author  


Wen Hua received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has worked in academia and international organizations in the field of gender and development.

 Review

"China is undergoing significant socio-economic, cultural as well as political changes. It offers an opportunity to examine how people develop their new perspective of what constitutes beauty, how they would work on their bodies in order to respond to new expectations and the new socio-economic environment, and how the socialist state is loosening its grip on the ordinary people. This book offers its readers the excitement of looking at social transformation in China." — Tai-lok Lui, the University of Hong Kong

2 comments:

  1. I really like the title. I mean it is true that cosmetic surgery can help you in finding your lost beauty..Cool book.

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  2. hi was just seeing if you minded a comment. i like your website and the thme you picked is super. I will be back. saphenectomy

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