2. Reinstating Corporeality: Feminism and Body Politics by Janet Wolff A presentation by Sabrina Boyer “What is being carved in human flesh is an image of society” -Mary Douglas

3. Aims of Presentation n To establish if the body is a sight of cultural/political protest n to discuss the possibility of women’s bodies becoming the site of feminist cultural studies n to recognize the dangers of these body politics n to deconstruct the classical category of “woman”

4. The essence of time... n Establish article (10min) n Video(5 min) n Class Discussion (10 min n Finish article, establish point (5 min)

5. The Danger of Body Politics n Wolff discusses 2 examples illustrating a failure of body politics: women protested the sole use by men of a bathing area by entering the water and removing their own suits n A documentary of the pornography industry made by women was presented in a sleazy section of England, attended by few women

6. Discussion Question n Wolff’s point: There are existing problems with using the female body for feminist ends. The bodies preexisting meanings as sex object and object of the male gaze always prevails(82). n Though our culture defines women’s bodies as passive and subordinate, can women engage in a critical poltics of the body? If so, how?

7. Wolff says... n Yes! The body can be a site of political intervention. Why? n Because it is precisely the site of repression and possession. n It is on these issues that feminists have argued FOR intervention through the body (83).

8. Repression and Marginalization of the Body in Western Culture n Mary Douglas has shown that the body operates as a symbol of society n Who is Mary Douglas? n A self taught archaeologist and anthropologist who speculated that symbols grounded in the human body express social experience-the body is taught to individuals n The “natural symbols” of the human body, such as blood, breath, excrement, are applied to ideas, practices, institutions, rituals and societies

9. Wolff says... n These rituals concerning bodily behavior are understood as the functioning of social rules and boundaries n These “boundaries” of the body come to represent threats and powers, in turn, symbolizing social boundaries n appropriate bodily behavior equals social order and hierarchy n Norbert Elias n Now, who is he? n A sociologist who wrote The Civilizing Process-a book which chronicled the manners and personalities of Western Europe n In Elias’ process, the body is constantly patrolled, the range of acceptable behavior narrowly defined.

10. Michel Foucault n A French historian n examined the codes and theories of order by societies and the “principles of exclusion” through which they define themselves n For example, the sane vs the insane, the innocent and the criminal n The body is brought into discourse-supervised, observed, and controlled

11. Self-surveillance n The outcome of the body supervised, observed and controlled n The body has been denied and marginalized in Western Culture based on the needs of bourgeois capitalism(85).

12. The Female Body in Western Culture n Are women too close to the body? n It is through the body women learn self-surveillance n In what ways do women self- surveillance themselves?

13. Isn’t it great being a woman? n Women diet, dress for a certain effect, monitor their movement and gestures, participate in cultural norms such as shaving of legs and arms n It is through the body women divulge in their own oppression n women learn as girls to conform to what is in their culture, and to monitor their appearance

14. Listen up girls! Cosmo says: n If you just love being a girl (and really look like one) this is your time! After decades of “you can never be too rich or too thin,” the all-girl girl has reemerged to be celebrated and adored. Curves a la Monroe (if she’d worked out a bit more!) are what’s red-hot now. So if you’ve been disguising all those luscious lines under industrial-strength bras and baggy sweaters, stop! Here are a few suggestions for really showing off this shapely, gorgeous girl. (Cosmo, 1989) (87).

15. The Male Gaze n Come on, do women really lounge around in the nude, or is this for the male gaze? n Can women paint women’s bodies? n Can the body be a site of cultural critique? n Can women’s bodies be portrayed as something other than through the regimes of representation and as an object of male desire? (or female desire?)

16. Transgression and the Female Body n The classical vs. the grotesque body n Women are classical-going back to Mary Douglas’ ideas of the functions of the human body n Women are seen as classical-never showing the these functions of the body n If they are shown, she is somehow grotesque. The virgin/whore dichotomy

17. The classical vs the grotesque

18. Julia Kristeva: who is she? n A literary feminist who relates the “monstrous-feminine” n the maternal body is an object of horror: why? n feeling of fear of the reincorporation in the mother and fear of the mother’s power n the child separates from the mother and becomes a subject n As a result the maternal body becomes “abject” : an object of horror and threat n however, this is particularly the male child n she argues that this could explain the virgin/whore dichotomy which counterposes the “pure woman” (classic body) to the slut (the grotesque)

19. Discussion Question n Does the “monstrous- feminine” render the abject body a potential site for transgression and feminist intervention?

20. L’ecriture feminine:French Feminism n Kristeva: contrasts the realm and language of … n The Symbolic: law of the father, identified with coming into language n Symbolic is the entrance into the world n The Semiotic: the prelinguistic, the bodily drives, rhythms, and pulsions experienced by the child in the fusion with the mother which result in repressed feelings and pleasures

21. Women and the Body n French feminism is writing grounded in women’s experience of the body and sexuality n This is not mediated by men or partriarchy (91).

22. Discourse and the Body n The Body is a social, historical, and ideological construct (92). n It is seen by women as lacking or incomplete n Do you think the body can ever be experienced without having been mediated through constructs and discourse? n Why or why not?

23. Wolff points out... n There can be “no ‘direct’ experience of the body, and we cannot talk about, or even conceive of, the body as some pre-given entity. What constitutes the body, and what constitutes the female body and its experience, is already implicated in language and discourse.”

24. But….don’t abandon! n Wolff states, “the female body, as discursively and socially constructed, and as currently experienced by women, may form the basis of a political and cultural critique--so long as it is one which recognizes the body as an effect of practices, ideologies, and discourses.” (94). n That means…learn from the past!

25. Gender, Dance and Body Politics n The classical ballet has lead to the preservation of the classical body. n Has helped reinforce the strict limits and size and weight n Roles created, such as swans, fairies, peasant girls, have lead to a construct of a strangely disembodied female(95).

26. Modern Dance n Modern Dance has allowed women to become innovators and choreographers, not just dancers. n Deals with stories of strong women, and stories told from a woman’s point of view. n Has introduced weight and relationship to ground

27. Let’s hear it for women! n Do you think modern dance has begun to truly use the body as a political tool? n Why or why not?

28. The body as politics n Two kinds of risk: n these images can be reworked and read differently than their intended meaning n may go along with sexist thinking which identifies the woman with the body n Therefore, what should body politics do to combat these risks? n Speak about the body, stressing its social construction and recognizing its representation (96).

29. Therefore... n Through questioning our bodies, our identities, our origins and our functions, women may work toward a nonpartriarchal expression of gender and body. n Do you agree?

30. Desmond, Jane C. Meaning in Motion, “Reinstating Corporeality: Feminism and Body Politics” Janet Wolff. 1997. Duke University Press