Fw: Beauty and the Breast: Bad Research, Padma Lakshmi, Plastic Surgery and Feminism, and more

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There are a lot of excellent articles and posts on this blog . . . Please join in the discussion! . . . The public needs to know!

Rogene

----- Forwarded Message ----From: Sybil Goldrich gloria@...

Issue 4 | October 30, 2007

Dear Friends,This is a very exciting issue of Beauty and the Breast!

Dr. Zuckerman shows us exactly how breast implant manufacturers dodge the research necessary to prove implant safety, and then recycle and spin what research they have done into marketing that reinforces the false perception of safety. Remember, everyone, no one has guaranteed the safety of implants, including the FDA!

In an entire magazine article by Cognard-Black, which was originally written for a major women's magazine, we look at the export of American ideals of beauty via the global plastic surgery industry. We also discuss 's Ms. Magazine article about how plastic surgery has co-opted the language of feminism.

And and I produced our first audio post about what we saw during our recent visit to Washington, DC! You can "talk" back by commenting through the audio comment function. No one has been brave enough to try it yet. Who will dare to go first?

Be strong and be happy!Sybil and

Exporting American Beauty: Plastic Surgery and the New Culture of Worldwide AcceptancePosted by Cognard-Black | October 30, 2007 at 7:57 am | Comments (0)

Cognard-Black, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Program at St. ’s College of land and a member of the Ms. Magazine Committee of Scholars. Her work centers on issues of women and identity.

In the past few months, alongside grocery-store check-out aisles, inTouch magazine has proclaimed “Ashlee’s Had More Surgery!” while Star has revealed “Hollywood’s Secret Surgeries!” Despite the mock horror suggested by furtive procedures and exclamation points, plastic surgery isn’t really terrible or secret. It’s a happening thing. Reality TV confirms this trend. Producers of recent shows such as Extreme Makeover and I Want a Famous Face assume that consumers already desire cosmetic surgery or that their shows will ignite such desire. Coupled with the new, middle-class chic of Flaunt It parties, surgeon safaris, and plastic pageants, it’s apparent that the latest tyranny in the North American cult of beauty is the presentation of plastic surgery as a safe, egalitarian option for women (and some men) to better themselves. (Although some media sources contend that men are outstripping women as nip-tuck consumers, it

just isn’t so. Last year in the US, 9 million procedures were performed on women—a 42 percent increase from 2000—and women exceed men almost 4 to 1 in opting for the surgical “fix.” In other words, plastic surgery is still a woman’s issue.)

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What and I Noticed In Washington’s Halls of PowerPosted by Sybil | October 26, 2007 at 10:03 pm | Comments (3)

What We Noticed in Washington’s Halls of Power

Our first audio post!

Keeping the Public Confused: “New” Research from Vanderbilt-IngramPosted by DZuckerman | October 26, 2007 at 9:00 pm | Comments (3)

Vanderbilt University News carried this headline yesterday: “New review clears silicone gel breast implants of serious health risks; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers find no cancer link.”

Objective researchers will disagree with those conclusions. Here are some problems with the review.

The review article’s four authors all have financial ties to the breast implant industry. Two are stock-owning employees of Allergan,which makes breast implants. The main author, ph McLaughlin, has been a consultant to the same implant company (Inamed, beforeAllergan bought the company), and he and the fourth author, Loren Lipworth, have received millions of dollars from Dow Corning for their research on breast implants. In fact, McLaughlin is an author of almost every study on breast implants of the last 10 years, all funded by Dow Corning, all concluding that implants are safe. (Lipworth and their colleagues at the International EpidemiologyInstituteare co-authors of many of the same studies). With few exceptions, the only studies that McLaughlin hasn’t co-authored are ones by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NCI and FDA studies are among the best designed and most objective

studies, because they focused on women who had breast implants for at least seven years. Those studies found significant increases in several illnesses and symptoms among women with implants.

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Breast Cancer Media HypePosted by Pam Noonan-Saraceni | October 25, 2007 at 7:58 pm | Comments (0)

October is officially Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the publications and media have had a field day with articles. The feedback on the blogs and letters to the editors has been phenomenal.

Being a 29-year breast cancer survivor, all this hype has me flooded with reactions, good, bad and indifferent.

One recent article, “Breast Cancer Sells,” had me hanging on every word and struck more than one raw nerve.

Here is a women’s disease that seems to be providing a way for EVERYONE to make money. T-shirt sales, magazine sales, pink clothing, purses, and pink ribbon jewelry are all playing on the sympathy of the public that has been touched at one time or another by breast cancer. Even the breast cancer awareness groups are profiting by all the media hype.

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Open Letter to Deborah Howell, Ombudsman of The Washington PostPosted by DZuckerman | October 22, 2007 at 12:42 pm | Comments (1) Dear Ms. Howell,

As ombudsman of The Washington Post, we depend on you to be concerned about tastefulness and accuracy. I therefore turn to you to protest an ad that appeared on the inside back cover of yesterday’s Washington Post Sunday magazine.

A plastic surgery group placed the ad to promote cosmetic breast augmentation.

The ad’s headline says: “Natural Stunning Results: We Are About Empowering Women…”

The image is of very large breasts, modestly covered with some fabric. There is also a “before” photo of small breasts, with a thick line across the nipples for modesty.

The ad says:

Our philosophy at the Austin-Westin Center is centered upon the well-being of our patients – not only upon how you look, but how you feel. We take pride in empowering people and seeing their self-esteem soar. Our physicians…are dedicated to upholding the highest standards in patient safety and improving quality of life.

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Why Our Flaws Are Beautiful: Fitness Magazine Tells Us to Embrace Our Unique ImperfectionsPosted by Sybil | October 22, 2007 at 7:31 am | Comments (3)

A woman I know once told me that when she acquires a pocketbook, no matter how expensive or luxurious it is, she doesn’t particularly go out of her way to keep it pristine. Why? Because when pristine, the pocketbook will continue to look like all the others still sitting on store shelves or rolling off assembly lines. It’s those scuffs and fingerprints and stains that come from ownership that will finally make the item personally and uniquely hers. Wouldn’t we all be better off if we could approach our physical imperfections in the same way?

In “Real Woman, Real Beauty: Why Our Flaws Are Beautiful,” Fitness magazine has put together a slide show of six gorgeous women who do just that:

**Padma Lakshmi, the model, cook-book author and host of Bravo’s Top Chef, says of the terrible scarring on her right arm, the result of a serious car accident when she was a young girl, “Guys seem to love it. It makes me seem fleshy and rugged and human to them… And women respond to it too: It shows that not everything is perfect.”

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Feeling Ugly and Going for a MakeoverPosted by | October 17, 2007 at 1:38 pm | Comments (1)

In Dr. Joyce Brother’s advice column a few days ago, a reader writes, “I’m going to be able to afford all the plastic surgery I need in order to make me beautiful.” In her response, Dr. Joyce Brothers says, “There’s little question that good plastic surgery can help many people’s self-image, but it also is true that an intense need for physical perfection can indicate underlying personality flaws that no amount of surgery can alleviate. This is, apparently, especially true of those who seek breast implants.”

Bravo, Dr. Joyce Brothers! It seems the good doctor has some insight to the deep issues concerning the psychological reasons a woman would want to change herself so drastically. Maybe she read the suicide and implant reports.

That she made a point of singling out breast implants is particularly interesting. I think the whole makeover procedure would indicate there is something up with the person. You so totally dislike yourself that you want a complete makeover? My old friend used to say to me, “No matter where you go…there you are.” This is also true about unresolved emotional issues. I can speak from experience on this one. You take all the baggage with you to the new surgical procedure or diet or relationship … UNLESS you addresses the underlying issues.

Thank goodness someone with obvious self-esteem issues has Dr. Joyce to point her in the right direction. Hopefully she will listen.

Barb’s Story: My Path to Confidence and Self-EsteemPosted by | October 15, 2007 at 1:20 pm | Comments (1)

This is from my friend, Barb, who sent me the link to the Dove video in my post here.

I was raised in the 70s and during that time, Twiggy was the hot model and she was so thin. Hot pants and mini skirts were the norm. I was thin too because I was young and had not hit puberty. By the time I did hit puberty, I got curves but was still thin because I was active, self-confident, and knew who I was as a person. I set boundaries and didn’t let people cross them. I was strong and confident.

When I was 15, I moved to South Carolina and lived with my sister for a year until my parents could move down. I was bored having come from the North where we had all sorts of things to do and public transportation so I could be a mall rat. In South Carolina it was a difficult transition and the attitude towards different races was one that I thought was resolved. I met a guy 10 years older than me and he showed me the attention I was missing from my parents and from my friends and he was a distraction from the boredom. I became sexually active to fill the void. I broke up with him and then dated a guy who was only four years older and I was with him for about four years. He was possessive, jealous, and sedentary when with me. I gained weight because I didn’t want him to be jealous of the attention I got from other guys. That was the beginning of my downward spiral. The spiral I didn’t know how to break. The spiral that, today, 22

years later, I feel that I have finally gotten loose from.

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New MRI Breast Implant Rupture Study: Attempt to Weaken FDA Safety RecommendationPosted by DZuckerman | October 15, 2007 at 8:07 am | Comments (1)

When the FDA approved silicone breast implants in November 2006, the agency and the companies making implants warned women to undergo regular breast MRI screenings so that they would know if their implants were broken or leaking. The warnings tell women to get an MRI after three years, and every other year after that.

Breast MRIs are expensive – averaging $2,000 – and not covered by health insurance. Since the MRI warnings could discourage women from choosing silicone gel breast implants, it is not surprising that advertisements for breast implants do not mention MRIs, and many plastic surgeons have argued that MRIs are not necessary.

A new study, “Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Explantation Investigation of Long-Term Silicone Gel Implant Integrity,” published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, concludes that silicone gel implants are unlikely to rupture until they are in the body at least six years, and that after 13 years only about 12 percent will be ruptured. The authors also conclude that MRIs are not necessary to check for rupture until 15 years, and only every five years after that. A careful review of the study shows that the plastic

surgeons who wrote the article are basing their conclusions on wishful thinking rather than science.

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But I Want to Be a Size 0, MomPosted by | October 12, 2007 at 7:29 am | Comments (10)

This video is AMAZING to me. It illustrates the problem with the beauty industry. I don’t think I could have said it better. It perfectly shows the onslaught of images young girls see. And we wonder why we have obesity issues, self esteem problems, cutting issues, depression, drug addiction and eating disorders at an alarming rate in our country. Our girls don’t stand a chance, my own daughters included.

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Mommy MeltdownPosted by | October 11, 2007 at 8:41 pm | Comments (6)

Calling all women, where have you gone? Where are the bra-burning liberators who set us free, made us aware of our bodies and encouraged us to love ourselves, boobs, butts, legs and all?

This recent article in the NY Times, “SKIN DEEP; Is the ‘Mom Job’ Really Necessary?” got me so riled up, I had to write about. Mommy Makeovers? No, Mommy Meltdown!

HELLO, we are WOMEN, not Barbie dolls! We had BABIES, gave LIFE. That’s not supposed to take it’s toll on our bodies? Gimme’ a break. Women are whining because of some stretched skin? What the hell did they think was going to happen to their bodies when they committed to having a child, a person, a new life?

Aaahhhh, the new benign name: The Mommy Makeover. Have we really bought into the male plastic surgeon and implant manufacturer’s ad campaign? Mommy Makeovers tell us to reject ourselves and love implants. What the hell happened to us? Well, move aside Women’s Lib. Where has our hard-won pride and freedom as women gone?

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Rep. DeLauro Questions FDA About Changes in Post-Market Requirements for Silicone Breast Implants: We Need Long-Term StudiesPosted by Sybil | October 11, 2007 at 1:22 pm | Comments (1)

This morning, Congresswoman L. DeLauro (Conn. – 3), sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. von Eschenbach seeking information regarding a change in a mandatory post-market requirement for silicone breast implants.

The FDA approval of silicone breast implants last November was based on a number of conditions that the manufacturers were to follow, one of which was that silicone manufacturers must track at least 80,000 implant recipients over the next 10 years to determine the long-term safety and efficacy of the implants.

Earlier this year, however, Mentor, a manufacturer of silicone breast implants, announced that the FDA approved an amendment to the company’s Post Approval Study Protocol that eliminated a mandatory requirement that each patient receiving silicone breast implants be enrolled into a study. This means that less than one year after approval, the conditions already appear to

be changing in favor of manufacturers. As it was, the FDA decided to approve first and test for safety later – guess they’ve changed their minds and won’t ever test for safety.

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The Choice Is NOT Between Saline or SiliconePosted by | October 10, 2007 at 3:20 pm | Comments (0)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch health and fitness columnist Amy Bertrand recently received this question:

Q: I am interested in breast implants, but I don’t know much about silicone vs. saline. A doctor I had a consultation with handed me some pamphlets, but both seem to tout the benefits and not the drawbacks. Can you help?

Reading this reminded me of WHY Sybil and I do this work and have this blog. I am happy to see that the questioner noticed that the pamphlets touted the benefits of both kinds of implants, but didn’t really educate her on the possible hazards. This is something we hear about so often. It amazes me that after all women have been through, and considering how much we DO actually know and how many years we have been working at educating women about the dangers of breast implants, that the general public seems to know so little. There is just NOT anywhere near equal representation of information out there, especially from the doctors who have sworn to first, do no harm.

To give Amy Bertrand credit, her answer to the question does include information about risks. Too bad, though, that Amy falls right in line with the plastic surgery industry in offering “silicone” versus “saline” as the choice facing women, rather than the real choice, which is to consider not getting them at all.

How Plastic Surgery Has Co-Opted FeminismPosted by Sybil | October 5, 2007 at 9:38 am | Comments (3)

I have been greatly disappointed by what I’ve seen of online conversations about breast implants. For example, here at Care2, and even here at BlogHer.

First of all, whether pro- or anti-implant, participants bring up everything from popular culture to body image to parenting (rising trend in teen plastic surgery), but only superficially address health. This tells me that the general public is woefully uninformed about the real and serious health risks associated with these medical devices.

A second frustration is that it is often the people thinking it’s perfectly fine for breast implants to remain on the market who use the message of feminine empowerment to support their argument.

Arghhh! I have spent years of my life battling the breast implant industry and the government bodies responsible for regulating them because breast implants are just plain dangerous, and NOW and Our Bodies Ourselves have been in the trenches with me every step of the way. These venerable organizations fought and continue to fight the hard fight to teach society the value of women, to give us the opportunities we enjoy today, and to show us our

value and potential so we can make the most of those opportunities. To see the feminine power they did so much to unleash used to support or promote breast implants, something they deeply oppose, is outrageous and quite frankly painful.

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