For years, chronic back pain and deep marks dug by the straps on my shoulders had punctuated my daily life. My decision to undergo a breast reduction had nothing to do with aesthetics: it was a necessity to find a sustainable life. At first, my companion Gerald seemed to fully support my approach to a painless existence. He listened to my complaints and agreed that we spend 5 000 dollars of our common savings on the operation. Yet behind this apparent understanding was a very different reality: it nurtured expectations about my physical appearance and considered our common money in a way that would soon reveal the true dynamic of our relationship.
The illusion collapsed as soon as I returned from the hospital. Still sensitive and painful, but deeply relieved, I was greeted by an ultimatum of Gerald. He showed me on his phone the website of a clinic and demanded that I give him an additional 5 000 dollars taken from our remaining savings so that he could undergo an aesthetic hair transplant. He presented this as a matter of “justice” and financial fairness within the couple. According to him, since he had accepted that I transform my body and that I use our common money, he too was entitled to an aesthetic intervention of the same value. It reduced a medically necessary operation to a simple personal whim.
