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Library | Material Type | Call Number | Child Count | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
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Searching... Science | Book | RD539.8 .S74 1998 | 1 | Stacks | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
For 30 years, silicone gel breast implants were marketed to and implanted in at least one million women in the U.S. alone, damaging the health of hundreds of thousands. To many women seeking to improve their appearance, these virtually untested implants were promoted as a safe, lifelong answer to their needs. In actuality, however, they have been the cause of devastating, often irreversible health problems, making the implantation of these bags of gel one of the worst health care debacles in recent memory. Lawsuits against the manufacturers and the resulting trials have made prominent headlines and are a matter of public records, but until the publication of Silicone Spills: Breast Implants on Trial , there has never been a sophisticated and accurate presentation of the women who have had implants, why they have had them, and what has happened to them socially, medically, and legally as a result.
Silicone Spills portrays the breast implant business as a personal and social tragedy, as well as a complex legal and political controversy. Sociologist Mary White Stewart interviewed over 50 women at great length, examined questionnaires completed by 60 other women, observed pre-trial hearings and courtroom proceedings during the litigation against implant manufacturers, and read countless documents and press coverage about the cases. The fascinating and horrifying story she tells in this book, full of women's personal experiences, is a tale of corporate greed, of the commodification and medicalization of women's bodies, and of women's lack of personal and economic power. How can so many women have been damaged and failed by the very people and institutions that exist to protect them? Silicone Spills reveals that the complex answers to this question lie in our culture, in which women continue to be eager consumers of any procedures and products that seductively promise physical transformation into the desirable feminine ideal.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Arguing that pseudoscientific theories of race from the 19th and early 20th centuries still impact our current standards of beauty and "unhappiness" with our own bodies, prolific critic Gilman (Difference and Pathology) explores plastic surgery as an extension of psychotherapy. He traces the history of aesthetic surgery from its initial function of hiding disease (most particularly syphilis) to its later incarnation as a means of erasing ethnic identity (specifically Jewish identifications by nose shape and size) and creating a more "normal" appearance. Freud and other analysts were instrumental in establishing theories of aesthetic surgery and, Gilman argues, "provided a label for what it cured: inferiority." Several of Gilman's chapters are devoted to tracing this intersection between theories of race, aesthetics and psychology in the works of early psychoanalysts. Although his overarching argument is compelling, Gilman's work relies heavily on technical language. This work will be most useful to the surgeons and therapists who counsel people seeking plastic surgery and to cultural critics interested in tracing mutations in concepts of health, happiness and beauty. (Nov.) FYI: Also due in November is Silicone Spill: Breast Implants on Trial, by Univ. of Nevada sociologist Mary White Weaver, depicting the social, legal and health-care battles fought by women with implant-related health problems. (Praeger, $26.95 226p ISBN 0-275-96359-4) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Choice Review
Stewart offers a mostly nontechnical account of the silicone gel breast implant controversy. Included is some history of Dow Chemical/Corning from 1940 to 1997, the FDA's inaction until 1992, misinformation provided by manufacturers and plastic surgeons, criticism of the few scientific studies, recent legal judgments, and women's experiences. The author reviewed medical records of some 100 women who had implants and were involved in the global settlement, interviewed 50 women, and analyzed 63 detailed questionnaires returned by largely sick women. She also participated in pretrial hearings, observed trials, and interviewed jurors. The case studies are sad and disturbing. This is a tragic story of big business, disinterested government, a powerful medical profession, and certainly less powerful female consumers. Though it has yet to be proven that silicone gel breast implants cause atypical autoimmune diseases, there is convincing testimony from patients and concerned physicians. There is some overlap with Susan M. Zimmermann's Silicone Survivors (CH, Oct'98), based on interviews with 40 women, but Stewart's book has considerable legal discussion, difficult to understand without some legal case study familiarity. Stark black-and-white evidence photos; glossary. Highly recommended for college and university libraries. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; two-year technical program students. E. R. Paterson; SUNY College at Cortland
Table of Contents
| Preface |
| Introduction |
| Breast Wishes |
| The Path of Destruction: Implant |
| Development, Data Distortion, and the Ineffectiveness of the FDA Oh, You Beautiful Doll: Transforming the Self in American Culture |
| A Nip, A Tuck, A Lift: Medicalizing Healthy Women |
| Women's Bodies, Women's Worth |
| The Aftermath and the Stigma Path |
| Medical Records: Negotiated Reality |
| The Medical-Legal Controversy and Its Impact on Litigation |
| Breast Implants in the Larger |
| Context of Violence |
| Against Women |
| Glossary |
| Bibliography |
| Index |