Links: Cosmetic surgery as investment/DSD/Never let me go/Losing a spouse/Kissing

When cosmetic surgery is a marker of ambition (Guardian)
Why aren’t people more concerned about the medical risks of cosmetic surgery? We’re increasingly socialized to believe we must invest in ourselves to improve our chances and opportunities in life, whether it’s paying for higher education, looks or both.

The Tale of Tea with Jim the Third (Bioethics Forum)
Alice Dreger on the story of a man with a disorder of sex development (formerly termed “intersex”). One patient heard his urologist say to the nurse, outside the door, “I don’t deal with this shit.” The biggest issue is not surgery, hormonal treatments, or lack of psychological support for families. It’s shame and how no one deals with it.

Why “Disorders of Sex Development”? (Alice Dreger)
Dreger discusses the change in terminology from “intersex” to “Disorders of Sex Development” (DSD). The term “intersex” was a moving target. “DSD” gives patients a means to talk openly about what’s happened to them, without shame. “Intersex” did not.

Hermaphrodite (Lancet)
The unease generally provoked by sexual ambiguity exposes our continuing discomfort with transgression of binary categories, whether the boundaries are broken by anatomy, sexuality, or non-conformity with gendered stereotypes of identity.

Dark harvest (Lancet)
Review of the film Never Let Me Go, based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s a story, set in the future, about children conceived and raised to donate their organs until they die. “The demands of medical progress are indeed unstoppable, even as they deepen the possibility of exploitation.”

The Shock Of Losing A Spouse (NYT)
Joyce Carol Oates’ A Widow’s Story: A Memoir. Reviewer Janet Maslin finds the book a bit thin and faults Oates for not revealing her remarriage. “The dynamic of the marriage is left blank.” See The absurdity of widowhood.

Ask an Academic, Valentine’s Edition: The Kiss (New Yorker)
Why do we kiss? Interview with Sheril Kirshenbaum, author of The Science of Kissing. Kissing is much more important to women, for biological reasons.