Virtual Virility, or, Does Medicine Make the Man?

Abstract

While men continue to enjoy a privileged position in the physical market, increasing numbers of American men are pursuing enhancement technologies ranging from hair transplants to penile augmentation. Contemporary discourse that positions these efforts to alter appearance as evidence of a masculine drive for economic success rather than as part of a feminine narcissism reflects historical biases against male preoccupation with appearance; contemporary discourse that acclaims these efforts as liberating for American men minimizes the extent to which men, like women, are vulnerable to market-driven cultural imperatives regarding physical attractiveness.