It is only very recently that elective cosmetic surgery has entered the mainstream as a routine and socially acceptable way to alter appearance. In the 1950s, for example, aesthetic plastic surgery was a largely marginal and unknown medical practice. Just a few decades later, in the present day, it is a recognized medical speciality, not to mention a highly lucrative multi-billion dollar global industry. Although cosmetic surgery is regularly performed on men, it is by and large a female practice. In 2016, for instance, in the United States, ninety-two per cent of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures were performed on women, and only eight per cent on men. (Interestingly, although women are by and large the primary recipients of cosmetic surgery, approximately eight out of every nine cosmetic surgeons are male.) These figures are mirrored precisely in the UK, where women, in 2015, made up about 91% of cosmetic surgery recipients.