Traditionally, men have been perceived with masculinity image, which assumes that they should not be concerned about their physical appearance (Connell 1995). However, with cultural changes, the male body has become hypervisible and sexualized in the media. For example, advertisements featuring men sexually posed in briefs (e.g., Calvin Klein, Dolce and Gabbana advertisements) have become common place in magazines (e.g., Maxim, Men’s Health, GQ, OUT, etc.) and on billboards.

In this sense, the hypervisibility of the male body may be a source of symbolic domination shaping how men view their bodies, bringing attention to physical appearances and telling men how they “should” look. Thus, such occurrence has caused the emergence of a new trend, where men are focusing more attention than ever before on their physical appearance and attractiveness.

Among sociologists, the body is considered central to the image or picture people have of themselves (Goffman 1968; Featherstone, 1991). The body is conceptualized as a “project” being modified and transformed as a fundamental part of self-identity (Shiling, 2003). Such changes, coupled with the increasing availability of technology to modify the body, have stimulated the emergence of aesthetic surgery as a tool to increase the identity of a man.

In the viewpoint of men, aesthetic surgery has the potential to increase one’s self-esteem. Aesthetic surgery is able to alter physical inferiorities or deformities from birth defects, accidents, or other events. In addition, with the emerging consumerism culture and constant judgmental view of the modern society, plastic surgery has become the utility for improving appearance as it is often being compared in the society. Because of such changes in culture, male has become more accepting towards the practice of plastic surgery in improving their self-esteem in the modern consumerism culture.

Besides that, there have also findings, which shown that men with high self-depreciation and low self-esteem are more likely to be uncomfortable and embarrassed by their physical appearance, thus causing them to dislike their physical inferiority. It is because that they have perceived conception that the general public will be highly judgmental to their physical inferiorities and cause them to suffer in their daily works and activities. In regard to body modification, men felt that cosmetic surgery may improve their appearance and thus make it easier to find a suitable career and makes them feel more comfortable in different social situations. Therefore, the increasing trend of aesthetic surgery for men is reflecting the challenge in achieving better physical appearance, which will affect the acceptance of society in their daily works and routines.

All in all, men have become more receptive to the idea of cosmetic surgery because of the changes in the modern culture. With a huge influence from mainstream media in regards to physical perfection, cosmetic surgery has become a popular tool to improve physical imperfection. In addition, cosmetic surgery is also used to improve men’s physical appearance as it is important in their aspect of survivability in work and social acceptance in the modern consumer culture of society. As such, these factors have stimulated the overall increasing trends in the pursue of cosmetic surgery for the male’s counterpart of the society.