Stigma, Surgery and Social Identity: Attitudes towards Cosmetic and Sexual Reassignment Surgeries
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis uses a combination of vignettes and interviews to explore social approval of cosmetic and sexual reassignment surgeries as a means of studying sex and gender in contemporary society. It draws from poststructuralist, queer, symbolic interactionist and intersectionality theories. This study found that social approval was higher for normative surgeries than for non-normative surgeries. The main themes that emerged in regard to social approval were respondents‘ religious beliefs, their social distance from a person undergoing surgery, their concerns with possible risks or complications, and their views on an individual‘s right to control their own body. Underlying the vast majority of the responses was an essentialist view of sex that influenced how participants‘ viewed the various surgeries.
abstract: This thesis uses a combination of vignettes and interviews to explore social approval of cosmetic and sexual reassignment surgeries as a means of studying sex and gender in contemporary society. It draws from poststructuralist, queer, symbolic interactionist and intersectionality theories. This study found that social approval was higher for normative surgeries than for non-normative surgeries. The main themes that emerged in regard to social approval were respondents‘ religious beliefs, their social distance from a person undergoing surgery, their concerns with possible risks or complications, and their views on an individual‘s right to control their own body. Underlying the vast majority of the responses was an essentialist view of sex that influenced how participants‘ viewed the various surgeries.
author: Mayeux, Cheryl
keywords: sex, gender, cosmetic surgery, sexual reassignment surgery
date published: 2009-05-15T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:28:56Z
provider: University of New Orleans
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of New Orleans