ISSUES
: Body Confidence
Chapter 1: Body Image
22
features”, noting that it is “designed
to allow users to simulate plastic
surgery by easily modifying face and
body features”. This app is marketed
as a game – indeed, its website
address is isurgeongame.com –
and Dr Salzhauer notes that the app
“delivers on the promise of realistic
photo alterations while also allowing
users to partake in plastic surgery
games playing the role of a surgeon”.
Closely associated with ‘games’ is
‘fun’, as is noted by the developers
of Plastic Surgery Princess: “This
app is for purposes of ‘fun’ only and
is not for medical use or medical
advice regarding aesthetic surgery
or cosmetic surgery.”
The ‘gaming’ aspect of some of
the apps I found made me feel
uneasy as I read various blurbs. For
me, the invasiveness of cosmetic
procedures and the potential
vulnerabilities of those who might
access those procedures, means
that ‘playing’ with beauty ideals is
a road which should be travelled
down very cautiously, if at all.
Indeed, more general caution in
undergoing cosmetic procedures
was urged earlier this week in a
House of Commons adjournment
debate when the Rt Hon. Ben
Gummer (Parliamentary Under-
Secretary of State for Health)
observed that “people should think
carefully about how they endorse
cosmetic surgery. It is a serious
intervention and if anyone seeks to
glamorise something about which
careful thought should be taken,
people and the organisations using
those endorsements should treat
them with extreme care.”
Concerns might also be raised in
relation to the age of users for which
apps are deemed suitable. For
example, the link to the iSurgeon
app through iTunes specifies that
purchasers must be at least 17
years old to download the app; and
ModYourBod is rated for those over
the age of 12. In 2014, there was an
outcry against an app which was
rated as appropriate for those over
the age of nine.
This app – ‘Plastic Surgery & Plastic
Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for
Barbie’, which was marketed as a
game – was withdrawn from iTunes
following campaigns on social
media. Its blurb, highlighted by a
number of media outlets at the time
(e.g.
The Independent
), depicted
a cartoon image of an overweight
girl, which was accompanied by the
description that “[t]his unfortunate
girl has so much extra weight that
no diet can help her. In our clinic
she can go through a surgery
called liposuction that will make
her slim and beautiful. We’ll need
to make small cuts on problem
areas and suck out the extra fat.
Will you operate her, doctor? [sic]”
In a description offered by a piece
published by
The Guardian
, users
are then invited to tap on a surgical
tool, then tap again on the body
part on which that tool should be
used, and “once the surgery is
over there’s an opportunity to play
dress-up, with a choice of a few
hairstyles, dresses and shoes”. This
app inarguably trivialised serious
procedures, and did so by using
language that could most kindly be
described as ‘highly insensitive’.
‘Daring to dream’
So far, I’ve identified how apps may
seek to promote or facilitate access
to procedures; inform potential
patients/consumers; or ‘normalise’
the use of surgery as a standard
beauty procedure through gaming.
One other purpose might be
encapsulated in the phrase ‘daring
to dream’. Plastic Surgery: Thin and
Tall, for example, entices users to
consider: “have you ever dream
[sic] about thigh gap and bikini
bridge? Thin and tall application
can make your dreams come true
in a few seconds. Plastic Surgery:
Thin and Tall is the best application
to make you look handsome.”
Similarly, the ModYourBod app
promises “your dream figure, at
your fingertips” (this app also fits
into the ‘facilitation’ category, as it
enables users to request quotes for
the procedure(s) they are interested
in). The aspirational rhetoric of
these apps again calls to question
how they might affect potentially
vulnerable audiences, especially
given the low age threshold at
which they are deemed suitable
(Plastic Surgery: Thin and Tall, for
example, is suitable for all ages).
Most of the applications I found
during my one-hour search appear
to focus on a female audience,
so I quickly searched further
specifically for apps that might be
aimed at men. I came up with the
a news item published in July 2014
by Marketwired which reported
the “first ever male plastic surgery
app” – called Manhattan Plastic
Surgery for Men. This app is a hub
for special offers and promotions
for men considering undergoing
cosmetic procedures, and provides
access to relevant photos and “our
private social media community”.
Again, this app is rated as suitable
for people over the age of nine.
The only other app aimed at men
which I found in my searches
took me into the realm of ‘giving’
cosmetic procedures as gifts to
woo women. According to a piece
published by
Business Insider
,
Carrot Dating (since banned from
iTunes), enables men to “bribe their
way to a date” (as an aside, the
first line of the press release issued
