دانشگاه رازی

  This study examines the expansion of cosmetic surgery among adolescent female high school students and the mechanisms through which they become incorporated into neoliberal relations of the body. It seeks to elucidate how this process develops and to explore the role of families in intensifying or mitigating it. The theoretical framework of the study draws on David Harvey’s conceptualization of neoliberalism and Ivan Illich’s theory of medicalization. A qualitative research design was employed, with data collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with ten female students from two high schools in Tehran representing different socioeconomic backgrounds. The findings indicate that these girls become caught in a self-reinforcing cycle: first, their bodies are transformed into forms of economic capital that require continuous modification and investment; second, the medical institution legitimizes this commodification under the guise of health; third, this structural pressure is reduced to a purely individual matter through the illusion of free choice; and finally, individuals emerge who redefine themselves as competitive commodities within the beauty market and, through each cosmetic intervention, reproduce the same cycle for others.