To what degree is gender embodied?

1. To what degree is gender embodied? Lecture 8

2. outline: gendered bodies 1. introduction: some historical and theoretical issues 2. is there a ‘natural’ body? 3. men’s bodies 4. ‘woman as body’ 5. gender: women as more than bodies 6. bringing bodies back in 7. doing/disciplining bodies 8. gendered bodies: final observations

3. introduction: some historical and theoretical issues • Plato and ‘somatophobia’ (Spelman 1982: 118) • ‘Cartesian dualism’: mind/body – gendered split – men/culture and women/nature • how to understand ‘the body’? – much debate – the extent to which the body is ‘real’ and/or discursive - 3 main perspectives

4. 3 main perspectives • body as nature – biological entity e.g. Firestone – reproductive differences; • body as socially constructed – continuum: - sex/gender distinction – socialisation theories - critique of sex/gender distinction – is the body a ‘coat - rack’? - Butler – ‘sex’ –socially constructed – what happens to the body? • embodiment – the lived body – ‘we are bodies’

5. is there a natural body (1)?see Diana Fuss in Kemp and Squires (1997:250-258) • essentialism – ‘true essence’ • feminist theory: - ‘female essence’- pure femininity - ‘universal female oppression’ - ‘ female voice’- Irigaray - ‘feminist discourse’- category of ‘women’

6. is there a ‘natural’ body (2)? essentialism • the ‘natural’ or real body underlies gender • ‘real’ femininity and women’s bodies are repressed or unrepresentable in patriarchy often recognise importance of the social

7. is there a ‘natural’ body (2)? constructionism • opposed to essentialism • focuses on the social: - ‘natural’ socially produced - bodies shaped by social factors/meanings - representations of bodies change • involve essentialism?

8. men’s bodies • men seen as disembodied - mind reigns - men can transcend their bodies - male bodies not problematic –privileged position – marginalised groups? - construction of masculinity (hegemonic) – physical bodily performance – injured? e.g. male labourers

9. woman as body (1) • women historically associated more with nature and disordered (reproductive) bodies • de Beauvoir – ‘anatomy is not destiny’ • ‘body in trouble’ (Moi in Hughes & Witz 1997) • dualistic account of the female body – positive and negative? • ‘reproductive body’ - bodily-related crises – source of alienation?

10. woman as body (2) • second-wave Feminism highly influenced by de Beauvoir’s argument that patriarchy shapes women’s bodies but biology does not determine women – can change • but de Beauvoir did not escape patriarchal notion of women’s bodies as repulsive • body as source of woman’s alienation (self & species) – crises • privilege gender does body slip out of view?

11. gender: women as more than their bodies • domination of female body – source of women’s oppression? • body politics – e.g. women’s health movement • Our Bodies, Our Selves (1971) • challenge medical expert knowledge/discourses

12. bringing bodies back in • sociology of the body – from 1980s, lots of work • Butler refutes distinction between sex and gender. • discourses have material effects. • bodies that conform to the ‘heterosexual imperative’ (boy/girl) matter and others do not • positive - allows criticism of how some bodies delegitimated • problem because bodies - especially as experienced by women – lived body - get lost under gender as fluid?

13. doing/disciplining bodies (1) • doing gender means bodily doing (West & Zimmerman) • e.g. Iris Young – femininity and space • see also (Mauss (1973[1934]) walking • techniques of the body developed in line with disciplinary regimes - reinforce gender opposition?

14. doing/disciplining bodies (2) • techniques involve surveillance and discipline of our bodies in effort to fit with social norms: • e.g. Brush (1998) – cosmetic surgery – ‘rhetoric of choice’ • e.g. Bordo (1993) on diet/ing • Tyler & Abbott (1998) make-up weight, • e.g. Mansfield & Mcginn in Morgan (1993) – ‘pumping irony’ • norms often unrealistic and/or contradictory • always resistance - & alternatives: women’s football; female body building?

15. gendered bodies: final points (1) • how are bodies socially constructed? • materially - through social institutions (e.g. work, media) and social practices (e.g. ways of walking, beauty) • are men’s bodies increasingly subject to disciplinary processes previously aimed at women?

16. gendered bodies: final points (2) • symbolically - produced by representation/ discourses? • social constructionism criticised for still assuming that there is a natural sexed body on which gendered meanings are ‘written’ • is the body a tabula rasa (blank slate)? • are women’s bodies a problem to be gone beyond or something to ‘think through’?

17. some extra references Hughes, A & Witz, A (1997) ‘Feminism and the matter of bodies: from de Beauvoir to Butler’, Body and Society, 3(1): 47-60. Johnston, L (1996) ‘Flexing Femininity: female body-builders refiguring ‘the body’, Gender, Place and Culture, 3(3): 327-340 Martin, E (1987) The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction, Milton Keynes: Open University Press Mauss, M (1973) ‘Techniques of the Body’, Economy and Society, vol 2, pp. 70-88. Spelman, E (1982) ‘Woman as Body: Ancient and Contemporary Views’, Feminist Studies, 8(1): 109-131. Stanley, L ‘Should ‘sex’ really be ‘gender’ – or ‘gender’ really be ‘sex’? In Jackson, S & Scott, S (2002) (eds.) Gender: A Sociological Reader, London: Routledge. Tyler, M & Abbott, P (1998) ‘Chocs away: weight watching in the contemporary airline industry’, Sociology, 32(3): 433-450.