When something as violent as surgery becomes normalized, there will always be space for Horror to shake us back into our basic fears. As the process became more advanced it also opened up a new market within the beauty industry. These treatments were developed during a time of desperate need, but soon became a source of desire, or manufactured need. Plastic surgery also has a long history, beginning in the 1400’s and growing during war time (“History of Plastic Surgery”), when soldiers would return from battle disfigured. From Ancient Egypt’s obsession with beauty in terms of makeup, skin care, hair/wigs and beauty remedies (Sooke, 2016), the toxic Elizabethan quest for pallor (Romm, 1987), several centuries of corseting, to surgical practices.
Human history is filled with the search for beauty and perfection. Warning: this essay contains graphic images of plastic surgery Skinned: From Surgical Horror to Body Horrorīy Serena Wercholewski Volume 23, Issue 4-5 / April 2019 12 minutes (2850 words)
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