From Adrian Bowyer
Susie Orbach gave us a rather pained and regretful summary of the modern technology of bodily improvement and augmentation (7 February, p 28). She stated the obvious facts that plastic surgery, the makeover industry and all the rest concentrate on people’s secondary sexual characteristics and their visible indicators of youth and health – and hence apparent fertility- but she did not follow through to any testable hypotheses.
With a bit of clever experimental design it ought to be possible to conduct controlled trials of makeover-desire in both people and other animals. Will some women select breast augmentation over a bigger income? Would stags opt for bigger antlers in preference to food, even when hungry? If peacocks were given the budget, would they shell out for a more colourful and impressive tail?
Bath, Somerset, UK
