Susan M. Zimmermann: Silicone Survivors

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#CC0000" alink="#CC0000"><center><hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade>How a group of women's experiences with breast implants and the medical profession affected their feelings about themselves and their bodies<hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade><p><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9781566396110&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><img src="1362_reg.gif" height=200 border=1 vspace=4></p></center><h1>Silicone Survivors</h1> <H2>Women's Experiences with Breast Implants</H2> <h3>Susan M. Zimmermann</h3> <P>cloth 1-56639-611-5 $59.95, Mar 98, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Out of Print</FONT> <br>paper 1-56639-612-3 $32.95, Mar 98, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Available</FONT> <BR> 240 pp 6x9 3 tables </P><p>Susan Zimmermann talked with forty women about perhaps one of the most sensitive issues of body image and healththeir breasts, the chief attribute of femininity. In the aftermath of the early 1990's controversy over the use of silicone breast implants, how do women decide to undergo surgery to enhance or reconstruct their bodies? How does surgery alter a woman's self-image? How did they face the possibility of debilitating autoimmune disease from rupturing or leaking implants? <p>Some opted for breast implants after mastectomies, others for cosmetic reasons. Some felt empowered by the surgery: "Being a woman, I just like breasts and felt like I got ripped off. . . I did it for myself." Others were pressured by their husbands: "He used to make fun of parts of my body . . . And, he made me believe that if I was ever to leave him, no one would have anything to do with me because I was this deformed type of person." <p>After surgery, some women were ecstatic, while others had a sense of inner conflict about what they had done to themselves: were they "faking it"? And a few were angry: "I was really angry inside that I had had to put plastic bags filled with chemicals in my body in order for me to feel like I could do the Hoochie Koo on Saturday nights. . . I didn't wear tight clothes; I didn't want my children to find out." <p>Now, having faced years of medical and personal uncertainty, many have coped by reassessing their lives and their relationships, by sharing information and support with other women with implants, outreach that became a means for self-empowerment. <BR> <h2>Excerpt</h2><P>Excerpt available at <a href="http://www.temple.edu/tempress">www.temple.edu/tempress</a></p> <BR> <h2>Reviews</h2> <p>Read a <a href="../authors/1362_review.pdf">review</a> from <I>Contemporary Sociology</I>, 28.4 (July 1999), written by Jean Elson (pdf). <p>Read a <a href="../authors/1362_review2.pdf">review</a> from <I>Gender and Society</I>, 13.5 (October 1999), written by Constance L. Chapple (pdf). <BR> <h2>Contents</h2><P> <p>Acknowledgments <br>1. Introduction <br>2. Historical Background: The Emergence of a Controversy <br>3. The Decision to Seek Breast Implants: Women's Participation in the Medicalization Process <br>4. False Expectations: An Ironic Twist on "Before and After" <br>5. Misinforming Women of Risk: A Medial Conspiracy? <br>6. Minimizing Women's Troubles <br>7. Listening to an Inner Voice <br>8. Transforming Identities: Experiences of Empowerment <br>Notes <br>Bibliography <br>Index </P><BR> <H2>About the Author(s)</H2> <table><tr><td valign="top"><img src="/tempress/authors/1362_au.gif" height="90" width="75"></td><td width="100%" valign="middle"><p><B>Susan M. Zimmermann</B> is a Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Health, Health-Care Policy, and Aging Research, Rutgers University.</P></td></tr></table> <BR><H2>Subject Categories</H2> <p><A HREF="/tempress/health.html" TARGET="_top">Health and Health Policy</a> <BR><A HREF="/tempress/women.html" TARGET="_top">Women's Studies</a> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9781566396110&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="copyright.html" onMouseOver="window.status='Web Copyright Policy';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Web Copyright Policy">©</a> 2015 <a href="http://www.temple.edu" target="new" onMouseOver="window.status='Link to Temple University home page';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Link to Temple University home page">Temple University</a>. All Rights Reserved. http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1362_reg.html</font></p>