Cosmetic surgery not hit by global financial crisis, USA.

Cosmetic surgery patients in the USA are 90% female and 80% white. The industry has grown 465% over the past decade, with patients spending almost $12.5 billion each year. In the USA, people pay for 85% of cosmetic procedures by borrowing and no minimum down payment is required, unlike all other countries apart from Australia and Mexico. Interest rates can reach 28O/o, doubling if a month's repayment is missed. Most cosmetic surgery practitioners interviewed said that they began by wanting to do something better, especially reconstructive or reparative surgery, but ended up doing cosmetic surgery to repay loans, often for medical education. A recent book finds that cosmetic surgery has been less hard hit by the global crisis than many other "businesses". There are signs that women are becoming more determined to change their appearance in order to grow in value on the love or labour market. The book observes that cosmetic surgery is an attempt at normalisation, both racially and sexually. (1)

(1.) Essig L. American Plastic: Boob Jobs, Credit Cards, and Our Quest for Perfection. Boston: Beacon Press, 2011. Cited in: Chollet M. My face is my fortune, sir, she said. Le Monde Diplomatique, 16 June 2011.

DOI: 10.1016/S0968-8080(11)38590-4