Beautiful face, beautiful place: relational geographies and gender in cosmetic surgery tourism websites
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Cosmetic surgery tourism is a significant and growing area of medical tourism. This article explores the gendered construction of cosmetic surgery tourism in different geographical locations through an analysis of destination websites in Spain, the Czech Republic and Thailand. We examine the ways in which gender and other intersections of identity interact with notions of space, place and travel to construct particular locations and cosmetic surgery tourist experiences. The relational geographies of skill, regulation and hygiene in discourses of cosmetic surgery risk are also explored. We conclude that accounts producing cosmetic surgery tourism as undifferentiated experience of ‘non-place’ fail to acknowledge the complex constructions of specific destinations in promotional materials targeting international consumers in a global marketplace.
Source: Gender Place & Culture
Authors: Ruth Holliday, David Bell, Meredith Jones, Kate Hardy, Emily Hunter, Elspeth Probyn, Jacqueline Sanchez Taylor
Institutions: University of Leeds, University of Leicester
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G1584573090
OpenAlex ID: W1965914515