A recent edition of Publishers Weekly (June 26) reviews Beauty Junkies: Inside Our $15 Billion Obsession with Cosmetic Surgery (by Alex Kuczynski, Doubleday, US release October ‘06).
The reviewer tantalisingly writes:
“A podiatrist shortens toes so her clients can fit into Jimmy Choos, and a lawyer who’s argued before the Supreme Court routinely lies to a succession of doctors to feed his Botox habit. … New York Times reporter Kuczynski has attitude to spare as she outs Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicole Kidman as probable Botox users. … A canny and witty guide to the excesses of a conformist society with more money than sense, Kuczynski discloses her own beauty addiction in the form of Botox, collagen derived from cadavers and fetal foreskin cells, liposuction, eyelid lifts …”
The "Our" refers to an American audience, but I don't doubt that, while the dollar figure might be smaller in the UK, Australia, New Zealand or Scandinavian countries, the subject is just as applicable. Scoff, sneer, deride if you like, but I’ve stepped into the glossy, contemporary-art-filled waiting room of a haughty surgical dermatologist, and then into his treatment rooms, for an ‘inconsequential’ cosmetic procedure (those quote marks are mine … don't be too harsh in your judgment of me). I’ve also been shown his before-and-after books and listened, with more than a passing interest, to a dissertation on the benefits of a chemical peel.
Working in an office of stunning post-pubescents and twentysomethings is confronting for sure, but it would take more than toe-shortening to get my fat feet into a pair of Jimmy Choos. And, the fact is, I think I’d rather spend my $700 on a deposit for a piece of contemporary art.
