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A Narrative Study in Bloemfontein, South Africa Alessa The role of cosmetic surgery in the embodied experience of female beauty: a narrative study in Bloemfontein, South Africa ___________________________________________________________________________ by Alessandra Kim Heggenstaller Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements in respect of the degree DOCTORATE of PHILOSOPHY: SOCIOLOGY (The Narrative Study of Lives) in the FACULTY OF THE HUMANITIES (Department of Sociology) at the UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE October 2017 Bloemfontein, South Africa Supervisor: Professor Jan K. Coetzee (Department of Sociology, UFS) Co-supervisor: Dr Asta Rau (Centre for Health Systems Research & Development, UFS) The financial assistance of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, in collaboration with the South African Humanities Deans’ Association towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NIHSS and SAHUDA. Declaration “I, Alessandra Kim Heggenstaller, declare that the PhD Thesis that I submit for the Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) Degree qualification titled: ‘The role of cosmetic surgery in the embodied experience of female beauty: a narrative study in Bloemfontein, South Africa’ at the University of the Free State is my independent work, and that I have not previously submitted it for a qualification at another institution of higher education”. Alessandra Kim Heggenstaller Bloemfontein, South Africa October 2017 Acknowledgements I would like to begin by thanking the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) in collaboration with the South African Humanities Deans’ Association (SAHUDA) for their financial support. The financial assistance provided by the NIHSS and SAHUDA allowed me to complete my PhD thesis as a full-time student at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Respect and gratitude is given to the research participants. I am aware that the cosmetic journey is a private experience. Thank you for allowing me into your private world and revealing your most intimate thoughts, feelings, and experiences. To Professor Jan K. Coetzee and Dr Asta Rau, thank you for giving me this amazing academic opportunity; your guidance and support is invaluable. I couldn’t have asked for better supervisors in this research project. I would like to thank Dr Ben Anderson (pseudonym) for assisting me. Without your help this study would not have found its existence. Thank you for allowing me access to your surgical practice and to experience a different perspective to the cosmetic medical encounter. Also, I would like to thank the medical personal. Your kindness and helpfulness made appointments and requests a pleasure to ask. Much love and respect is given to my family; Matthias, Bettina, and Jamie. To Heinrich Ferreira, you were an amazing sounding board and friend throughout this PhD process. To Sasha Basson and the Haley family, thank you for your continued support and encouragement. And lastly to Jacques Haley, thank you for standing strong by my side. Abstract Nowadays, the concept of human ‘beauty’ is intricately linked to that of identity: beauty is seen as bringing success in occupation, love, and marriage. Accordingly, beauty is often treated like a commodity—social status is attributed to it, and negotiated with it. The way in which female beauty is constructed and manipulated by popular culture and via the mass media, leads many women to reshape their physical appearance in order to conform to what is widely regarded as beautiful, ideal, and in line with current trends. And this appears to occur irrespective of women’s economic position or cultural heritage. The media holds particular sway in constructing beauty ideals by encouraging the everyday woman to constantly evaluate her physical appearance. And out of the resulting sense of needing self-improvement many women refer to, and then conform to, a (mostly Westernised) notion of generic sameness. Cosmetic surgery is a growing phenomenon influencing women’s lives all around the world and is growing in popularity in South Africa, where this research is located. The study aims to understand how beauty is perceived, and what impact a rejected or unwanted physical feature may have on an individual’s sense of self and on her life-world. I argue that when a woman experiences cosmetic surgery as empowering in terms of her appearance and her identity, this changes how she perceives and experiences herself; and that this re-negotiation of self-concept will influence how she engages her life-world and social reality. This study is firmly situated in sociological theory. It applies theoretical insights from Alfred Schütz’s phenomenological approach, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s social construction of reality, and John Creswell’s interpretivist methodology. Because it is vital to understand the gender dynamics at play when women undertake cosmetic surgery, particular attention is paid to feminist thought via the works of Kathy Davis and Iris Marion Young. The research is positioned in a qualitative research design. After obtaining ethical clearance for the study, I negotiated access to a cosmetic surgery practice, and with the help and support of the registered cosmetic surgeon, participants were recruited. The ten participants are from a white middle-to-upper socio-economic class in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Criteria for participation included women undergoing only the cosmetic procedures of blepharoplasty, liposuction, abdominoplasty, breast augmentation and breast lift. Data was collected in semi-structured, one-on- one, in-depth interviews, guided by interview schedules. Interview processes allowed participants to expand on their lived experiences, subjective thoughts, inter-subjective encounters, and their feelings and emotions. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The narratives were thematically analysed and mined to unearth the hidden depth and richness of the cosmetic experience. Key themes that unfolded and which are discussed in the analysis chapters are ‘beauty and its (re)negotiation’, ‘identity and femininity’, ‘cosmetic surgery and (dis)empowerment’, ‘finding the courage’, ‘the risks’, and ‘cosmetic surgery changing lives’. This study expands on existing knowledge and common perceptions of ‘beauty’ by revealing the subjective-voice of ten women and their cosmetic experience. Insights are gained on self- empowerment and embodiment and how these interface with each participant’s perceptions of herself, her femininity, and her sense of self-worth. Emphasis is also given to how the thoughts, feelings, and emotions before and after their cosmetic interventions impact on participants’ everyday life-world and (re)construction of their proximate social reality. The focus on South Africa is unique as most studies on cosmetic surgery are from the USA and Europe. Research findings also contribute to understanding cosmetic surgery in this day and age, by showing that simplistic and stereotypical judgements of the phenomenon and the many ordinary women who opt for it are limited and limiting. Key terms Cosmetic surgery Beauty Femininity Identity Gendered embodiment (Dis)empowerment Life-world Phenomenology Social constructivist Interpretivist Feminist thinking Table of content Introducing the research ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Positioning the study in research philosophy ..................................................................... 5 1.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 5 1.2. Philosophical assumptions of qualitative research ................................................................. 5 1.2.1. Ontology .......................................................................................................................... 7 1.2.2. Epistemology ................................................................................................................... 9 1.2.3. Axiology ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.2.4. Methodology ................................................................................................................. 12 1.3. Alfred Schütz’s phenomenology ........................................................................................... 14 1.3.1. Life-world ...................................................................................................................... 15 1.3.2. Stock of knowledge and consciousness ........................................................................ 17 1.3.3. Subjectivity and inter-subjectivity ................................................................................ 18 1.3.4. Embodiment .................................................................................................................. 19 1.3.5. The social construction of reality .................................................................................. 20 1.4. A theoretical outline of feminism ......................................................................................... 22 1.4.1. Self and identity ............................................................................................................ 27 1.4.2. Patriarchy and notions of female (dis)empowerment
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