fashionable femininity is abusive
Sunday, January 15th, 2012 | tags: female condition, marketing nonsense, news, NHS, sad |Attempting to conform to current femininity fashions such as displaying large breasts is both
- expensive – financially and emotionally
- dangerous for your health – mentally and physically
The UK for-profit organisation that supplied most of the PIP breast enlargement implants (made from industrial grade silicon) does not have the resources to rectify it’s mistake by removing the 14,000 implants and ‘reconstructing’ the deformed breasts. The NHS will not remove implants until after they have malfunctioned. That means that they will wait until the woman is injured before they will take safety surgery – they will not repair, they will just remove the leaking implant.
The mainstream media covers this from a ‘faulty goods’ supplied perspective, acknowledging that the recipients of PIP implants are experiencing distress and pain and that PIP was naughty for breaking the law and not using medical grade silicon. None of the mainstream media I’ve found has dared to comment on the socio-cultural environment that first drove these women to choose the physical pain and risk of major surgery to change thier bodies. This is a critical causal precursor for the existence of an industry that makes money out of mutilating women, a critical part of the story. Removing this industry would remove the possibility of faulty goods in the first place – remove the pain and the risk.
Meanwhile, the internet provides alternative news style stories, for example, The London Feminist refers to the illegal practices of the Harley Medical group and how they explicitly leverage (illegal) advertising to promote their for-profit services. It’s good to find intelligent, well researched, alternative news stories but sad that feminist perspectives rarely seep into mainstream media storylines
Today this tragedy, one of many perpetuated against women, leaves me feeling:
- Sadness for, and anger on behalf of, the many women around the world who were given PIP implants in their attempt to conform with current fashion.
- Relief that I chose to accept the lesser risk of ongoing abuse for not aspiring to conform to femininity fashions
- Guilt that I am surviving without the fashion trappings of femininity when others are suffering more than I….















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