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uncertainty. Moreover, developments in medical technologies have been found to increasingly render the body as uncertain (Williams, 1997). As new cosmetic technologies develop, the potential for more successful or less successful surgical outcomes arise. In this sense, decisions to undergo cosmetic surgery were accompanied by uncertainty; uncertainty about the technology and the knowledge that the desired end result is not guaranteed. As Beck (1999) explains “more and better knowledge … is becoming the source of new risks.” (p. 140). Although research suggests that men are now more comfortable building muscles for their aesthetic/symbolic significance, it does not appear that the norms have relaxed as far when it comes to cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery still violates norms of dominant masculinities and is viewed as potentially feminizing. These findings are similar to those reported by Gill et al. (2005) in that none of our interviewees overtly considered physical attractiveness to be a worthy justification for men to partake of cosmetic surgery. Our findings are also consistent with surgeons’ descriptions of men’s motivations for cosmetic surgery as presenting their desire for surgery as being based in functional reasons or health concerns rather than purely aesthetic reasons (Davis, 2002). The positive side. Most men in the sample, particularly those who were considering a procedure in the future, felt that surgery would increase their selfconfidence, decrease their body dissatisfaction, and help them with dating. The potential for boosting self-confidence through cosmetic surgery was a prevalent theme. Although all respondents claimed to already have high self-confidence before intervention, many of them believed that surgery would further boost their self-confidence because they would no longer have to worry about what other people were thinking or saying about their appearance. As John explained, “it can be very hurtful ... [kid’s] they’d end up coming up to me, ‘oh you have a big nose… Ohh, it’s big’… So like, it was always like a concern for me. If you see kids coming up to you telling you that you have a big nose, you wonder what other people are thinking too.” This anticipated benefit was fulfilled post-surgery. The five respondents who had undergone cosmetic surgery all reported that it had increased their confidence. They felt that the surgery affected how they were perceived and treated by others. For example, Eric explained that “in terms of my confidence, it definitely shot up. There was definitely a different response from people around me.” 964 The Qualitative Report July 2011 Four men contemplating cosmetic surgery felt that their dissatisfaction with a particular part of their body prevented them from being in control of their appearance and, as a result, they felt they failed to meet agreed-upon standards of embodied masculinity. For example, Greg stated that “[my nose] it’s problematic because I can’t achieve my version of perfection until I am perfect in my own eyes and if I don’t like my nose, then it’s not perfect to me, so I can’t achieve that perfection. I want control I guess.” These respondents believed cosmetic surgery would decrease their body dissatisfaction. T