SOSC 200Y Gender and Society

Lecture 9: Body and Technology

L9: 09.10.06

• The body as a site of social control (Michel Foucault)

– Regulate: • Regulated by the norms of cultural life • Conform to male conceptions of women

(cultural image/ femininity)

– Improve:• improved by the new technologies and new

products

– To sustain positions of the dominance and subordination.

L9: 09.10.06

Normalizing the female body

• Changing standards of beauty?

• Increased independence of women?

L9: 09.10.06

Normalizing the female body• Nowadays’ standards:

Big bust (enlargement of beast via implants, body

gel, medicine, push-up bra)

White (Cosmetic laser treatment, medicine, SK-II, Whitening mask, cream, cleanser….)

Young (Chemical peel, plastic surgery, skin care products)

Other modification (various kinds of cosmetic surgeries: lip, cheek, nose, etc.)

L9: 09.10.06

Slim/ thin (excessive exercise and self starvation)

The problem of eating disorder- Obsession with body image- Abnormal eating- Self-induced vomiting

L9: 09.10.06

Whilst for individual women these techniques have advantages, for women as a whole they can be argued to represent a cumulative narrowing of the range of valuable femininities within a masculine-dominated culture (Pilcher,1999:106).

L9: 09.10.06

How do the girls and women think?

o Normalize their bodies in order to please male?

o Feel good while improving their “look”?o A kind of self-control?o A way to increase self-confidence?

Never join the camp of ‘femininity’? Any problem in not pursuing the norm?

L9: 09.10.06

What about boys’ experience?

• To what extent are young men in HK satisfied with their bodies?

• Men’s products:– Skin care– Hair loss treatment– Body modification– Fashions

L9: 09.10.06

• Suggested Readings:

Bordo, S. (2003) Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. Berkeley: University of California Press. Ch. 5