Femininity in Present-Day Context - Essay Example

One does tend to wonder, sometimes, if woman emancipation has indeed liberated them truly? How confident are women about their bodies, their beliefs and their contribution to society?

A recent newspaper article in the New York Times by Natasha Singer, dated October 4, 2007, titled “SKIN DEEP; Is the 'Mom Job' Really Necessary?” reveals an interesting trend in this regard. This essay shall analyze the mentioned article and study its relevance, and the way in which the article corresponds to the ideas and issues discussed by Emma Goldman in "Love and Marriage" and "Woman Suffrage." The essay shall argue that, while the article is well presented in terms of the main argument, the limitation of the article is that the empirical evidence cited by Singer does not present the dangers of the surgical treatment adequately. The article is indeed very relevant to the thoughts expressed by Goldman.

Beauty - Skin deep?
Natasha Singer reports about the cosmetic changes that are brought about in a women’s body by means of plastic surgery. She discusses the work of Dr. Stoker in California, who promises a “surgical cure for the ravages of motherhood” called “Mommy makeover.” Singer sets the reader thinking with her title “Skin Deep; Is the Mom Job Really Necessary?” Providing adequate information about what the surgery actually does on the women who go in for the treatment, and why women agree to take the treatment in the words of Dr. Stoker, Singer then begins her attack on such extreme steps taken by women, despite the involved risks of high cost and danger to life.

The main argument of Singer can be understood in two parts: a) women who had altered bodies after childbirth, lost their self-esteem regarding their attractiveness and femininity because of the changed definition of beauty in modern times, with media pressure exacerbating the problem. b) They resorted to the readily available technology to modify their bodies in order to fulfill their cosmetic aspirations even at the risk of hefty expenditure, and danger to life.

Singer supports the first part of her argument well, and the cost factor in the second part. She states that “narrowing beauty norms are recasting the transformations of motherhood as stigma” and examines the role of the media in accentuating the situation:
“...unforgiving standards are the offspring of pop culture and technology…Gossip magazines excoriate celebrity moms who don't immediately lose their ''baby weight'' …a luxury parenting magazine…described post-pregnancy breasts as ''the ultimate indignity'' and promoted implant surgery;” (Singer 1)

Citing Diana Zuckerman, the president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, Singer further supports her argument of pressurized mothers, stating that the “the post-pregnancy body” was transformed ''into a socially unacceptable thing,” (Singer 1) to suit the marketing goals of plastic surgeons, who could profit from the operations. She provides statistics from the Society of Plastic Surgeons, to point to the increasing numbers – “325,000 ''mommy makeover procedures'' on women ages 20 to 39, up 11 percent from 2005” (Singer 2). Singer cites Dr. Stoker and Dr. Huffaker to give the reader of the cost –ranging from $10,000-30,000.

However, the empirical shreds of evidence of the women operated, like “Katie Helein” and “Ms. Sharlotte Birkland” (Singer 3) present only the positive side of the treatment. The fact that women could suffer from possible side effects of such treatment, and sometimes may even result in death, has not been adequately emphasized in the article and this weakens Singer’s argument of the life-risk factor. This proves to be the shortcoming of the article.
Relevance to Goldman’s Work

According to Goldman, even marriage amounts to degradation of women, since it implies that only through the institution of marriage can women achieve motherhood, “does it not degrade and shame her if she refuses to buy her right to motherhood by selling herself? (Love and Marriage 4) The recent trend of women trying to erase all traces of their motherhood would have been totally self-defeating to Goldman; firstly because she holds motherhood in high esteem “deep sense of responsibility toward the child, that love in freedom has awakened in the breast of woman” (L&M 5) and secondly, to forcefully erase the signs of this status-motherhood, in order to pamper the needs of a man - even though indirectly, would be “a sham,” in her words. The spirit of Singer’s article echoes Goldman’s conclusion in “Woman Suffrage,” which states that liberation of women is to be obtained “by asserting herself as a personality, and not as a sex commodity… freeing herself from the fear of public opinion and public condemnation” (p. 7).
Conclusion

Natasha Singer’s article in the New York Times concerning the increasing trend of women resorting to cosmetic surgery to reshape their bodies and self-image significantly points to the modern-day phenomenon of the power of media and technology. While the article proves its argument well, for the most part, it has the shortcoming of not presenting the dangers of cosmetic surgery proportionately. It also reveals that some women are yet to be liberated from their own notions and inhibitions. Herein the article is especially relevant to Goldman’s works. It has proved to be an enlightening study on the current trends and happenings associated with the concept of femininity. Read More