Chapter 7 The “Natural Look”: Extreme Makeovers and the Limits of self-Fashioning Dennis Weiss and Rebecca Kukla in this chapter we treat Extreme Makeover as an exemplary text for the purpose of critically examining the conceptual ground of the debate over the ethics of “radical” bodily transformation. situating Extreme Makeover as part of a constellation of discourses revolving around biotechnology, human enhancement, and the limits of self-fashioning, we argue that in interesting and contradictory ways the show challenges familiar frameworks in this debate. Highlighting the constructed nature of beauty and femininity while it simultaneously reinforces the production of a “natural look,” Extreme Makeover visually displays tensions that also exist in two popular philosophical positions on human enhancement: a libertarian position that naturalizes our capacity for transformation and an essentialist position that imposes ethical limits on those transformations in the name of nature. We argue that an examination of these positions through a close reading of Extreme Makeover points to conceptual diffculties in their normative deployment of nature. These conceptual tensions can also be found in some feminist theorizing about cosmetic surgery. We argue that addressing these tensions requires greater attention to the nature of norms, the natural, and how the natural functions in this performative context, and use Extreme Makeover as a springboard for concretizing a feminist understanding of the notion of “naturalness.” Reading Extreme Makeover Extreme Makeover is a show whose very title seems to promise radical transformations, celebrating a vision of an age of voluntaristic control over our bodies, and through them, our identities. the show premiered in 2002 and over three seasons featured close to 100 individuals undergoing makeovers. The typical structure of the show featured two, sometimes three individuals selected for makeovers. The narratives of the makeover candidates were presented through a video montage introducing the candidates, their family and friends, and highlighting how the candidates’ looks led to a lack of self-esteem or to insecurity, and how particular elements of their body have gotten in the way of their happiness. many