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21 - “At Home” in Botox, Feminism, and Ethics

from Part Four - Desires and Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2023

By
Jeanette Edwards
Edited by
Cecilia McCallum ,
Silvia Posocco  and
Martin Fotta
Cecilia McCallum
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil
Silvia Posocco
Affiliation:
Birkbeck College, University of London
Martin Fotta
Affiliation:
Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences
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Summary

Following Marilyn Strathern, social anthropologists have interrogated the “awkward relationship” between anthropology and feminism. This chapter revisits the awkwardness of British social anthropology by looking at its problematic relationship not only with feminism but also with anthropology “at home” and with ethical or moral judgments. Its focus is on cosmetic surgery and other quasi-medical cosmetic procedures such as the use of botulinum toxins (e.g., Botox) and dermal fillers. The chapter discusses the tension between anthropological and feminist approaches, revealed when the anthropologist is tasked with taking an ethical stance. It draws on the experience of the anthropologist having, in their early career, to defend anthropology “at home” and, in their late career, chairing a bioethical committee on the ethics of cosmetic procedures, and concludes that there are times when anthropology and feminism best serve each other by maintaining a mutually critical relation: by continuing to trouble each other.

Keywords

anthropology at homeplastic surgerycosmetic proceduresBotoxdermal fillersfeminist anthropologyethical judgmentsocial class
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality , pp. 577 - 600
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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