Abstract
Transforming Bodies: Makeovers and Monstrosities in American Culture is the most recent book by Heike Steinhoff, an Assistant Professor of American Studies at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. Transforming Bodies troubles the meaning of bodily transformation as it is often understood as one of beautification and/or improvement. Rather, Steinhoff suggests, the ‘extreme’ bodies that are made through modification should be considered as much beautified as they are monstrified, a reconceptualization that resists dominant discourses associated with cosmetic surgery. Theoretically, Steinhoff draws upon an array of disciplines that create the framework for her analyses: sociology, feminist theory, body studies, queer theory and disability studies, to name a few. Throughout the book, she interweaves explanations of various media texts with theoretical contributions from some of the foundational thinkers in these traditions, making for a book that is as much a study of media at the turn of the 21st century as it is an example of applying critical theory to everyday life.
Chapter 1 of Transforming Bodies provides an introduction to the work and an overview of Steinhoff’s upcoming case studies. Chapter 2 goes into greater theoretical depth than its predecessor, as Steinhoff reviews feminist scholarship on the body, and in particular Michel Foucault’s contributions that are relevant for body scholarship (subjectification, power, self-care, governmentality and its relationship to and with agency), before moving on to discussions of monstrosity in critical theory.
Chapter 3 focuses on the US television show (now cancelled) The Swan, which took unattractive female contestants, provided them with a multitude of plastic surgeries and culminated in a pageant to crown the ultimate ‘swan’. The premise of the show (that ‘ugly ducklings’ could be transformed into beautiful swans) also relied, to a limited extent, on therapists, fitness coaches and other professionals who could make these women as internally beautiful as their new-and-improved external selves. The show, of course, encountered an immense amount of backlash, particularly as it positioned cosmetic surgery, in the pursuit of hegemonic beauty ideals, as a reward for women who supposedly needed to be more beautiful, inwardly and outwardly, to achieve their full potential. While it is true that scholarship on The Swan (as well as other makeover television shows) is plentiful, Steinhoff’s study is unique in that she argues for ‘a reversal of the (dominant) reading of the makeover as a process of “beautification” … [because] the show’s representation of extreme makeovers can also be read as a televisual spectacle of “monstrification”’ (p. 43). Discourses related to beauty, femininity, heteronormativity and medical-scientific practices and techniques intersected on that particular show, she claims, blurring the boundaries between what constitutes ‘beauty’ and ‘monstrosity’.
The fourth chapter of Transforming Bodies examines two literary texts, Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk and its ‘remixed’, re-released version titled Invisible Monsters Remix, which includes more material than the original and presents the chapters in a new, non-linear order. Here, Steinhoff briefly explains the novel’s plot, motifs and themes, situating it as thoroughly enmeshed in makeover, beautification and cosmetic surgery cultures. Yet what makes Palahniuk’s book different from media texts that typically exist at this nexus, Steinhoff argues, is that even though ‘the somatic self in Invisible Monsters is represented as a biological stock – a commodity – to be invested in … [it] draws attention to the disciplinary, physically invasive, and potentially destructive sides of beauty and makeover culture’ (p. 98). In these books, beauty is both desired and reviled by the main characters, who mutilate and beautify themselves and each other throughout the story, blurring the purpose – and meanings – of bodily transformation.
Chapter 5 presents a study of Nip/Tuck, a fictional drama that aired on FX for six seasons and depicted the lives of two US American plastic surgeons. Here, Steinhoff positions the show as speaking to – and with – discourses related to makeover culture, plastic surgery, beauty and – of particular salience to this project-the boundaries between self-mutilation and beautification. The sixth chapter of Transforming Bodies examines Uglies, the first in a dystopian book series by Scott Westerfeld, in which teenagers are required to undergo cosmetic surgery as a means of conforming to (and joining) society at age 16. In Steinhoff’s view, the world of Uglies highlights the centrality of the makeover story in Western culture and media, with the notion that ‘becoming pretty’ and growing up will improve one’s life, particularly for girls and young women.
Steinhoff concludes Transforming Bodies with discussions of how our somatic selves are constantly being understood, negotiated and re-negotiated in relation to ever-changing ideals related to beauty, femininity, masculinity and other identity categories. She reviews the case studies that were presented in the book, highlighting the ways that these materials partake in (and critique) makeover culture, yet which may also be understood as providing critiques of monstrosity in relation to extreme bodies.
Steinhoff’s chief argument – that makeovers and cosmetic surgeries can be understood as much to be making ‘normal’ bodies monstrous as they can be seen to make them ‘beautiful’ – is well supported by her case studies, theoretical interventions, as well as our current media climate and culture more broadly. Her case is made stronger by selecting texts from multiple media traditions: television as well as literature. Yet while it is intriguing to see how varied traditions approach and treat discourses related to beautification and monstrosity, there is no particular rationale for why these texts were selected that would render the case studies seemingly more connected. This is not to say, however, that Steinhoff’s book is neither useful nor without unique, critical insights. This could not be further from the truth. This book seeks to synthesize, as well as build upon, many rich traditions from cultural studies, including (but not limited to) feminist theory, queer theory, media studies, literature and governmentality studies. I imagine cultural studies scholars invested in studies of the body, beauty and the technologies and processes of transformation will find that it presents numerous case studies that are thoughtful and engaging. Its theoretical richness, however, may also present a challenge to its success with a more generalized audience that is unfamiliar with the scholarly traditions Steinhoff builds upon.