A Phenomenological Study on the Lived Experiences of Filipino Women Who Had Cosmetic Surgery

Abstract

Cosmetic surgery is a procedure done for the improvement/enhancement of a feature in one’s body. As stated in statistics, it continues to have an upward trend worldwide especially for women. Despite this prevalence, there are limited studies regarding the experiences of Filipino women who had cosmetic surgery for most studies are either foreign or about the actual procedure itself. This phenomenological study aims to explore the lived experiences of Filipino women who had cosmetic surgery. The respondents of the study (6) and 2 cosmetic surgeons were gathered through a non-probability sampling technique – snowball sampling. The research took place in Metro Manila since cosmetic institutions and surgeons are concentrated in the metropolitan. Informed consents were first discussed and acquired before proceeding with the one-on-one indepth interview guided by a semi-structured guide. Analysis of the participants’ stories was done through thematic analysis while data validation was done through review of literature, interview with at least 2 cosmetic surgeons, verification of the participants, and co-analyzer. Results show that the factors that motivate adult Filipino women to undergo cosmetic surgery involves personal, social, and cultural factors. The process affected them psychologically and physically. Cosmetic surgery brought about positive effects, negative effects, or no change. Moreover, cosmetic surgery is implied to be a means for improvement (appearance, treatment, and confidence), gaining power and control especially over one’s body but it also perpetuates the culture of vanity wherein the vain becomes vainer. Furthermore, those who had cosmetic surgery were both victors and victims.