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Howson, A. (2004) - The Body in Everyday LifeIn Howson, A. (2004), The body in society: an introduction, Cambridge, UK : Polity
Notes: Two approaches to studying the body
o The body as a special object, that is being shaped by power and disciplineso The body as a crucial dimension of self – embodiment
A lived aspect of human experience - central A subject and object at the same time The self constituted through practical work in interaction with others and
the environment Agency
o Symbolic interactionists, Chicago schoolo The role of the body addressed in the context of creation of
social worlds by interpreting actions of others Action
o Phenomenologistso The self as embodied, constructed through practical action
of the body towards the world within which it is situatedo Rejects ontological separation of body/mind
Agency and the bodyo C. H. Cooley
Human Nature and Social Order “Self-development emerges through interaction with others, who reflect
back to us an image of ourselves” Focus on heads and faces Self-idea develops in three stages:
We imagine how we appear to others Relation to how we imagine the judgement of others Self-feeling produced by our imagination of these judgements
Looking-glass self Looking into a mirror is an interactive process through which
connections are made between the subjective self of the viewer and the external reality of the body. Because we don’t have a direct access to the reality of the others, we are forced to engage the external world through a mediation of meanings through symbols. Looking into a mirror is an act of imagination whereby the self is constructed symbolically as a portrait.
o G. H. Mead Draws on Cooley and Simmel Emphasis on exchange of gestures and symbols in generating self through
interaction
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Interaction not only by the self and the others, but also different aspects of self
I and ME I – the impulsive part based on instinctual bodily conduct ‘me’ – the social part of self, the contact with external world –
where the society comes in The parts of self engage in dialogue
Play and games Developing of awareness and anticipating the roles of others
o Presentation of Self in Everyday Life – E. Goffman Draws significantly on Cooley and Mead The constitution and the maintenance of the self in encounters Social life as a theatre
Focus of roles and performances, settings and audiences Framework of roles which makes the encounter sensible People as actors seek to maximize or minimize visibility of
information, depending on the impression the wish to develop Depends on observation of rituals that make social order sustainable
Visual and expressive information provided through the body Focused / unfocused interaction
Textual expression vs. bodily performance Presented self credible only if followed by a proper bodily conduct
Relations expressed in gestures Shared understanding of the meanings of the conducts – Body idiom
Techniques of the body (Mauss) Part of categorization of people into groups according their social
positiono All societies seek hierarchical grading of social groups
Self and social identityo Relation between a virtual social identity and the actual social identity
A certain congruence of normative expectations about a social role and the actual social role is key to successful interaction with the outside world
cultural, social and physical attributes possessed provide guidance Accordance is sought
Physical appearance is central mediation of publicly acknowledged self Look in the mirror = act of imagination of the society’s perception of
myself Meanings attached to physical appearance and bodily performances
become internalized by people and exert degrees of influence over their sense of self-worth and moral value
Normality and deviance established in social dialogue Norms as products of historical circumstances and processes
o Maintained by specialized agencies In W. culture the body is seen in mechanical terms
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Observation and comparison led to establishment of normal levels (normalcy)
o Images of consumer culture As long as the way we appear and present ourselves confronts the norms, we can assume a
degree predictability and stability in social encounterso Some aspects difficult to control
Inconsistencies of character, damaging social identityo Stigma – a discrepancy developed between virtual and actual identity
Carries moral connotations, leads to marginalization of status, to exclusion from effective social participation
Subject to social and historical change E.g. obesity associated with lack of control (see Turner 1984)
Challenging normso W. norms underpinned by notions of economically productive bodyo Impairment vs. disability – object of negotiation
Whether status of disability is conferred relies on responses and social arrangements
Impairment A negation of reproductive power, sexual strives People with an impairment (damaged bodies) regarded as a
problem/burden of the society Disability
the physical and social environment is disabling, rather than the impairment itself
Society may fail to accommodate Disabled rights movement in the USA Foucault
o Body norms shaped by discourseso Not all bodies considered equalo Idea of being body-able intrinsic to definition of deviance
Social perceptions and visual images have the potential to dis-able those who are subject of imagery
o Post-structuralists: Drawing attention to needs of disabled creates a stigma (even when meant well). The only way how to overcome negotiation of dis-abled body is to accept bodily abilities and visual appearances as a part of a continuum
o Goffman: Definition of normality/deviancy is contextual Face work and emotional labour
o Emphasis on face work in the western culture Access to perception of who the person really is – signalling board
o Body in the contemporary period – the communicative bodyo Face as a mask
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Conceals and reveals thinking and feeling underneath A. Hochschild
Emotions as:o Dominant model in which emotions are definedo A biochemical and physiological response of a body
Sensations need to be interpreted to become emotions, feelings Emotions analysed as emergent properties of interaction between
the body, its environment and social relations Modern market relations
o Demand for personal relations skillso Alienation through commercialization of emotionso Emotion work often expected from women; concealed,
because associated with femininity and female bodyo Emotions as the expression of relation between people
Emotions are neither impulses from within our bodies, nor do they come from the outside – emotions are constituted by relations that social life is composed of
Techniques as a smile do not just express an emotion, but literally embody it Also at least partially culturally specific
o Where do body idioms come from? Habitual, but also subject to rational control
Phenomenology and actiono Marcel Merleau-Ponty
In line with Schutz’s conception, but more emphasizing body work than textual production
Phenomenology: How people sense and make sense of reality Sensed data being made sense of by ordering and allocating
according to discrete categories and phenomena Focus: social processes people depend on to categorize sensed data
as phenomena, the extent to which the phenomena are shared Questioning the presumption of correspondence of objective world and our
sensual apparatus within processes of perception We’re not distant spectators of the world. The reality emerges in
communication, namely as a reaction to our bodily action. The Cartesian notion of separate body/mind strictly refused
Body as basis of being-in-the-worldo Embodiment precedes and ground reflective thought
Body as an opening towards the world – we develop self and comprehend the world via physical action
Spatial and temporal unity established through action Unity of body and mind may be disrupted though; when that happens,
attention shifts to the body, which me become extensively objectified
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