New Medical Procedure Creates Social Hierarchy

When addressing biopolitics as Frank does with his Emily’s Scars, we come across the ethical questions of how the integration of life and science have been used to answer these questions. As Frank discusses the multiple uses of medical procedures that are advertised, consumed and desired by society to create an image of bodily perfection, we are forced as a biopolitical society to legitimize what lengths these procedures can be used to “fix” socially perceived limiting bodily issues and address the ethical ramifications that surround the new life forms that are created through these technologies. If we are to accept the fact that society is functioning fro this bioploitical view then everyone must address the ethical ramification of the question in Frank’s article of “what’s wrong with the aspiration to have, and to use medicine to produce, designer feet?” I think that the answer to that question should be, a whole lot, if you are concerned with the equality of anyone.

Frank points out the “Gold Coast” of hospital floors where patients could that could afford the better amenities got treated better. Time have evolved and now that we are working form the biopolitical view point of society then we must recognize that we are subjecting not only those who can afford the extravagant possibilities of medicine for personal use, but subjecting those who will never have the chance to aspire for the possibility of using these socially advancing procedures. The ethical crux of allowing for medicine to be able to perform such niche procedures falls upon the state of what the medical profession has become in the biopolitical sense.

As Frank mentions, the doctor/provider and patient/client roles have merged and society has begun to confuse the healing doctor able to help you get better to the provider that insurance companies determine eligibility of services for. For those lucky enough to be in a position to be granted access or can pay outright to the doctors to help fix problems that have been determined socially inept we must consider the ramifications f those who don’t have health care or money.

In biopolitical society that says it is ok for medical niche modification surgeries to become commonplace is to subject the greater society to a furthering cleave in social rank. If these surgeries continue to be performed and ideals seemingly meet the standards of normalcy will become impossible without these procedures. Social disparities have plagued the pre-biopolitical society and with extreme life disadvantages for those who are born poor or of undesired physical racial or mental status. Why would anyone allow for that gap to become larger and allow for those who are already of the socially elite make it impossible for the gap to close. If medicine can “fix” the desire to be normal it would mean that the bar of normalcy in the future of our bio-political society to become only attainable through these selective services and would add to further disconnect from reaching any sort of equality.