Cosmetic Conundrums: In Search of a New Identity

Abstract

Culture outlines the foundations of everyday discourse and demonstrates clearly how body images are formed and perpetuated. It is therefore a pivotal point of reference when discerning how body image alters with the passage of time. This paper attempts to look at the ways in which dominant mainstream culture influences ordinary psyche leading to a wholly novel way of perceiving human physique - one that is rooted in embellishments, surgeries and racy body modifications. The potent conglomeration of intensive and expensive cosmetic procedures in the West has tossed out predefined notions of physical beauty and identity, paving the way for the latest fad of body alteration techniques designed specifically to attract the general public.