Breast Surgery as a Gender Technology: Analyzing Plastic Surgeons’ Discourses

ABSTRACT

This article explores the role of breast surgery as a gender technology by considering the discourse of plastic surgeons. We analyze the gender discourses that come into play when surgeons are asked to distinguish between 3 cases of breast surgery: breast implantation for transsexual women, postmastectomy breast intervention, and breast augmentation for aesthetic reasons. In the surgeons’ discourses, the 3 interventions are situated in the reconstruction/cosmetic divide. However, we can see that this boundary is profoundly influenced by cultural conceptions of gender. These gendered conceptions affect what is labeled normal/abnormal, what demands are considered legitimate, and which bodies are deemed able to possess certain attributes.

Notes

¹ Despite this similarity, postmastectomy surgery may present major complications arising from the removal of the tumor and the side effects of the treatments that a woman may be undergoing.

² However, Sedgwick (2013) calls into question this centrality of the breast in the construction of femininity based on her own experience as a cancer patient: “Forget the literal-mindedness of mastectomy, chemically induced menopause, etc.: I would warmly encourage anyone interested in the social construction of gender to find some way of spending half a year or so as a totally bald woman” (pp. 10–11).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Institut Català de les Dones [Grant number U11/10].

Notes on contributors

Gerard Coll-Planas

Gerard Coll-Planas, Ph.D. in Sociology, is Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at University of Vic–Central University of Catalonia. Among others, Coll-Planas has published the following papers: “The Wounded Blogger: Analysis of Narratives by Women With Breast Cancer” (Sociology of Health & Illness, 2016, with M. Visa), “Challenging Equality Policies: The Emerging LGTB Perspective” (European Journal of Women’s Studies, 2013, with M. Cruells), and “‘Having Words for Everything’: Institutionalising Gender Migration in Spain” (Sexualities, 2011, with P. Soley-Beltran).

Marta Cruells

Marta Cruells, Ph.D. in Political Science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, is adviser of feminist and lesbian, gay, trans, bisexual, and intersex (LGBTI) policies at the town council of Barcelona. Her research concerns equality policies, gender and intersectional theory, and social movements. She has published articles on these issues in peer-reviewed journals and chapters in edited books.

Eva Alfama

Eva Alfama, Ph.D., is a policy researcher and Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She has conducted research on social and gender politics, health and political mobilization, and currently works at the Barcelona city council.