Exploring cosmetic surgery

A New book which features essays by 11 UCSC professors

By Scott Rappaport

Tattooing . . . piercing . . . anorexia . . . self-cutting . . . plastic surgery . . . body-building . . . the use of life extension technologies–these are all forms of body modification that have become increasingly prevalent in today’s culture and mainstreamed in popular media.

A new book coedited by UC Santa Cruz professors Helene Moglen and Nancy Chen, Bodies in the Making: Transgressions and Transformations, explores our fascination with altering our bodies, offering a fresh perspective on the widespread and dramatic changes that have taken place over the past two decades in attitudes about the body.

A celebration of the publication of Bodies in the Making — featuring food, drink, and brief readings by local contributors — will take place on Tuesday, October 17, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the UCSC Women’s Center. Admission is free. For more information, call (831) 459-3882.
“Is there anyone not at some time obsessed with aging?” asked Moglen, professor of literature at UCSC and a former UC Presidential Chair. “Is there anyone over 40 who is not at least thinking about what it might be like to get some kind of cosmetic surgery? Is there anyone over 60 not interested in hearing about life extension technologies?