https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22 Zoe Leonard en-us 2019-03-20 15:03:15 UTC 2024-11-30 09:42:45 UTC hello@padlet.com zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375473 Walter Yeo is one of the first known people to be treated using skin grafting. I think this is an important part of plastic surgery history to discuss. While plastic surgery has been the cause of many insecurities in females in our society, it is also something that has brought a lot of good to its patients. Originally the main use of plastic surgery was to help repair the faces of soldiers who had been injured in war. Walter Yeo was a sailor in World War I and lost both his top and bottom eyelids in the Battle of Jutland. The surgeon was Doctor Gillies, who would graft uninjured skin onto the injuries. He basically made a mask of Walter's chest skin, and although he dealt with many infections throughout the procedure, Walter finally had eyelids again. The after picture may seem horrifying from a present view, but it was considered extremely successful at the time. 

More on Walter Yeo:
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/27/priority-walter-yeo-one-first-people-benefit-advanced-plastic-surgery/]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:07 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375473 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375565 Gladys Deacon was the duchess of Marlborough, and one of the first to receive paraffin wax injections in her nose in the 1890s. It is a little hard to see in this, or really any picture of her, but the paraffin wax that was injected into her nose slipped down to her jaw and made the area around her mouth very bulky, which resulted in her receiving the title of "once the world's most beautiful woman". She lived the rest of her life trying to cover up the surgical mistake, being a prime example of the dangers and risks of paraffin wax injections. 

More on Gladys's life:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9398000/9398406.stm]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:15 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375565 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375619 Something I found really interesting was that breast augmentations were not thought of until the mid 30s. In 1942, the term "hypomastia" was coined as the disorder of having small breasts. It also became an accepted psychological disorder later on, where women would feel psychologically unwell because they had small breasts, and they would be prescribed breast implants. This is what really jump-started the idea that large breasts indicate femininity, as well as value and worth within society. Breast implants were initially made from fat from other body parts or paraffin wax, both of which caused their own problems. Other materials used were wood or glass balls. One implant type that I found interesting was the use of sponges, which initially would create a seemingly natural-looking and -feeling breast. But the issue occurred when the breast tissue would grow into the sponge and would cause the sponge to condense and harden. The photo below is an example of the results of sponge implants.

More on the history of breast implants: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.88.8.1254]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:20 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375619 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375648 Researching the history of Plastic Surgery made me think of an episode of The Twilight Zone. I have provided a clip of the ending below. This episode was a statement from the writer, Rod Sterling, on the pressures and the ridiculousness of plastic surgery being used to fit in with society. For the majority of the episode, we do not actually see any of the characters' faces, but we know that the main character is considered ugly and has undergone 11 surgeries to fix her appearance. In the reveal at the end, we see that the woman is actually beautiful from our society's standards, and the norm in this world is what our society would call ugly. The reason he switched the beauty standards around was so that it could be relatable, and it could really emphasize that our society is pretty messed up for making people feel like they have to look a certain way in order to fit in.]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:24 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375648 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375675 I wanted to include this video because it's really insightful into the attitudes towards plastic surgery in the 1950s, and reveals the pressures that were placed on females at the time. The video describes the woman's natural nose as though it is devastating, creating an emotional and physical weight on her. The surgery is described to have "transformed" the woman, and implies that she is a completely different person both on the inside and the outside because of her new nose.]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:26 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375675 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375698 This is a really great overview of the history of plastic surgery, going through both good and bad advancements. I found this interesting to see how the practices went from terrifying to refined. It also reminds us that even though plastic surgery today is safer and well-developed, it encourages a lot of insecurities in our populations, especially in females. In present day, a lot of young people are getting procedures in order to feel beautiful and to look like celebrities, which really isn't any different than a women in 1910 getting a facial procedure to look younger and therefore more desirable.]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:29 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375698 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375742 I found this article to be really insightful about the history of cosmetic surgery, and I found it even more interesting in the way that the author brings in racial issues that have been associated with plastic surgery. For example, with the rise in population of Jewish and Irish immigrants, as well as African-Americans in the States, "pug noses", large noses and flat noses were regarded as extremely 'ugly' because they didn't fit in with the average nose of a white person. The author also brings up that before breast implants became popular, large breasts were considered "primitive" and females would get breast reductions. The point of this article is to reflect on the racism associated with plastic surgery, and consider that as one of the origins as well as the facial reconstructions of war heroes. ]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:34 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375742 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375786 This article gives really great insight into the problematic history of plastic surgery. What I found interesting was the story of Rosa Travers, which is described at the beginning of the article. Rosa Travers won a contest through the New York Daily Mirror, of "homeliest girl in New York". The grand prize was to receive cosmetic surgery from an expert surgeon, but there were never any updates after the surgery, causing speculation that the procedure didn't go well. This whole concept of thousands of women sending in pictures of themselves, or of their friends, because they felt they were ugly and wanted to become "beautiful" is absolutely appalling, and quite frankly insulting that this was even a contest. Imagine how Rosa Travers felt after her insecurities were validated. And imagine how she felt if her procedure did go wrong. It's really just horrible. ]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:38 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375786 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375850 This website features an article from 1910, written by a comedic author named Gelett Burgess. This article is a satirical description of the horrors females would go through to obtain 'perfect complexions'. In this piece, Gelett writes from the first person perspective of a female who is trying to woo a man who is over ten years younger than her. I found this to be a really interesting read, and it made me consider the practices of plastic surgery in the past, and how painful and wearin it could have been.]]> 2019-03-20 15:08:44 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343375850 zo_a_leonard https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343376933 2019-03-20 15:10:30 UTC https://padlet.com/zo_a_leonard/vgmaq2hebx22/wish/343376933