There is a French company called Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), and believe it or  not, they have been accused of using inferior, “industrial” quality silicone in their implants – implants that are used for breast implants in the majority of cases. Naturally, this has lead to fears that perhaps the implants could rupture, and some review writers even heighten the fear by saying “explode.”

There’s also a fear that there may be a cancer risk. Thought French authorities and British medical regulators have made it clear that they have found no link between implants and cancer, there is that pesky risk a risk of rupture. So, the French government has offered to remove PIP implants from French women for free. They state that the removal is “preventative measure, not of an urgent nature.”

This is a local issue in Europe, and it effects very few American women, so why are we talking about it here? Well, it’s because of the massive amounts of fear-mongering, most of it brought on by European feminists. When pro-lifers stand on overpass with signs full of pictures of aborted fetuses – pictures of babies to bring on the guilt – some feminists accuse them of using the “yuck” or “gross-out” factor. But when it comes to plastic surgery, especially breast enhancement surgery, feminist use the same tactics.

Instead of taking the “women have a right to do whatever they want with their bodies,”stance, they take the position that women are vain or insecure. Independent columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said: ‘Things, as we now know, can go wrong. Very wrong. Belatedly this week, experts in the UK are beginning to take the problem seriously. But it may be too late for many women who already have that dangerous silicone in their bodies.’ Maybe, she says, these women ‘shouldn’t have been so weak or vain in their efforts to attain what so many of …

… them regard as unattainable physical ideals’.

That’s a bit harsh. I know some women who got implants due to extremely lopsided breasts, and they felt fully self conscious. Another friend of mine was badly teased about her small breasts growing up and she developed a host of self-image and body issues because of it. She got implants, a very small B-cup, in order to make herself more confident in her own body. I will admit, especially living in Hollywood, I’ve seen girls take it too far, but it’s their body and their choice – who am I to judge? They have their reasons. I just don’t get the feminist solidarity from someone who will say that women who enhance themselves, all women, are “so weak or vain.”

Another writer took to her column to write of her ‘bafflement’ at those ‘sisters’ who choose to have their mammary glands ‘cut open daily for the approval of men,’ despairing ‘about the three generations of feminism, and where it has really led us at all.’ Another asked: ‘How did we get to the stage when we thought it was normal to slit open our chests and stuff them like chicken breasts?’ Some have published gory pictures of bloody breasts being cut open ‘unnecessarily’ by surgeons, alongside descriptions of the trauma of ‘infection, pain, general anesthetic, scarring’ experienced by those women who are ‘sliced and diced to look like someone else, saying women are ‘paying doctors to butcher [their bodies] into more delicious forms.’

I mean honestly, what is the difference between those statements and photos as the pro-lifers? Instead of banding together and fighting for safer breast implants and better ways to do the surgery, these feminists prefer to argue that natural breasts are best. As one blogger said, ‘Fiddling around with things that don’t need it is always risky.’ They talk keenly of how they came to be satisfied with their own small, perhaps slightly ‘wonky’ breasts and of their pity for those poor sisters duped into wanting to look like ‘Barbies,’ who want to have the ‘pert, rigid teats’ you see in lads’ mags.

They don’t talk about how it sometimes will help a woman become more confident in herself, and do more for herself. Where is the solidarity in this? Just because someone choose to alter themselves does that mean the are no longer feminist? Do we now turn our backs to them and judge them? Shouldn’t we embrace them even deeper? The issue here is that feminism fights for unity, and for trying to bring women together. But how is insulting and using the politics of fear, bringing solidarity? Feminists get furious at the stereotypes people throw at women, that women are, judgmental, hysterical, dramatic, catty, but if you ask me these feminist writers are proving them right. If you want to argue that breast-augmentation is taking feminism a step back, then you need to be sure that you are the best example of a feminist and not present yourself as a woman who doesn’t like another woman simply because she pads her bra.

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3 Responses to “Feminist Fear-Mongering for Women Who Get Breast Implants?”

1. Shannon says:

   January 11, 2012 at 5:08 pm

   Ugh, like feminists needed a public image that makes them look even more like judgmental harpies. These women give us all a bad name. It is imperative that we stop worrying what other women do with their own bodies. To do otherwise is the very definition of patriarchal behavior. These ladies think they know better than those “weak” adult women what’s best for them. How grating. How anti-feminist.

   Reply
2. Blueness says:

   January 12, 2012 at 6:50 am

   I could care less about the feminist label anymore – it has been hijacked by every cause out there (if you’re not VEGAN you are not feminist and on and on it goes).

   That being said, there SHOULD be a dialogue about the risks of implants and other cosmetic surgeries. This does not need to go in the way of harping, but women and girls (because yes, girls are getting cosmetic surgery) should be fully informed of the risks before any procedures. There is money being made by praying on body-issues, and yes of course sometimes the surgeries can be beneficial but the risks and reasons for surgery should be carefully examined.

   There are bars near me that give away breast implants as prizes. Personally I find making life-altering surgery decisions while drunk in a bar, and because you WON them to be highly questionable, but you do get a bunch of men hooting for you and your soon to be boobs. You can argue that the women that win these prizes are claiming their rights to make their own decisions about their bodies but I do not buy it.

   Reply
3. elle says:

   January 22, 2012 at 12:10 am

   Women who get implants ARE weak. All they’re doing is altering their bodies to be more appealing to men, when what they’re actually meant for is feeding a child. Good for these feminists in calling them out.

   Reply

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