Lecturers not happy after Leeds staff newsletter advertises cosmestic surgery

An advert in the Leeds Uni Reporter, a newsletter for members of staff, is advertising cosmetic breast surgery.

Some members of staff, including lecturers have expressed their anger that the magazine has advertised such surgery and argued that it was inappropriate for a newsletter produced by the University to do so.

It is also not the first time this issue has arose,  a similar advert was reportedly placed in the November issue of the newsletter.

Karen Throsby a lecturer in Sociology and Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies told The Tab: “My objection to the ad is not that I have a problem with cosmetic surgery itself.

“I respect the many reasons that women (and men) choose to engage with it, and recognise that many surgeons are skilled professionals providing a service for which there is considerable demand.”

She added: “But this is my place of work, and a focus in this context on normative bodily aesthetics is out of place. This is particularly pertinent for women, whose bodies and appearance easily become the focus of attention at the expense of their professional skills and capacities.”

“It is for this reason that I think that a university staff magazine is an inappropriate context for this ad. I know that there have been some very lively debates around this on the FemSoc pages, and it’s great to see these issues being discussed from a range of perspectives.”

A spokesperson from the University of Leeds told The Tab “We’d encourage any members of staff who have concerns about any of our small adverts to approach the Reporter team directly.”