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This book is the first of its kind to explore how women challenge the powerful sociocultural and gendered phenomenon of diet culture across the broad anti-diet movement and beyond. Showcasing the voices of over 150 everyday women, activists, and health professionals across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, the author provides new insight into anti-diet practices while giving agency for women who remain main targets of diet culture. Using Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus as a novel starting point to develop a concept of the diet habitus, the author explores the possibility of a fragmented but unified diet counterculture. Drawing on feminist perspectives from women's and fat liberation movements, the author demonstrates that women's anti-diet practices are grounded in a combination of self and society; one that has the power to significantly re-shape the broad landscape of food and eating for women. This international book appeals to scholars, students, activists and health professionals interested in the intersections of the sociology of the body, fat studies, sociology of food and nutrition, social movements, health sociology, and women's studies.

Wie bilden sich Erlebens- und Deutungsweisen des eigenen Körpers heraus? In welchem Zusammenhang stehen sie mit Erfahrungen? Das Buch bietet einen Ordnungsversuch der Relationen von biografischem Verlaufs- und Körpererleben sowie ihrer Erforschbarkeit. Dafür wurden narrative Interviews mit Berufstanzenden mit einer modifizierten, leibphänomenologisch angereicherten sozialwissenschaftlichen Prozessanalyse ausgewertet. Mit dieser ‚Leibheuristik‘, die Körper als Erfahrungselemente auch mit spürenden Qualitäten berücksichtigt, liegt nicht zuletzt ein Empirisierungsvorschlag für Körper vor, der grundlegende forschungspraktische Anschlüsse eröffnet.

The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351234146, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. This book analyses the social and ethical implications of the globalization of emerging skin-whitening and anti-ageing biotechnology. Using an intersectional theoretical framework and a content analysis methodology drawn from cultural studies, the sociology of knowledge, the history of colonial medicine and critical race theory, it examines technical reports, as well as print and online advertisements from pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies for skin-whitening products. With close attention to the promises of ‘ageless beauty', ‘brightened', youthful skin and solutions to ‘pigmentation problems'for non-white women, the author reveals the dynamics of racialization and biomedicalization at work. A study of a significant sector of the globalized health and wellness industries – which requires the active participation of consumers in the biomedicalization of their own bodies – Wellness in Whiteness will appeal to social scientists with interests in gender, race and ethnicity, biotechnology and embodiment.

This is a book about boys'bodies, masculinities, and the ways in which boys navigate their lives from early childhood through to the beginning of adolescence. Drummond focuses on sport, health and physical activity, and adds context to the history of male bodies, the social construction of masculinity and the role of sport as a potential rite of passage for young males. Using rich descriptive interview data with 33 boys from the ages of 5 to 13, collected over an 8- year period, Boys'Bodies identifies important issues including the significance of muscularity and strength as signifiers of masculinity and the need for boys to be involved in “blood sports” as well as “beat girls” in sporting competitions. The meaning of health and the perception of boys'changing bodies over time are central to the discussion. The book will appeal to researchers, teachers, practitioners, policy makers and parents.

Johannes Krause untersucht, welche Maßnahmen Menschen aufgrund bestehender sozialer Dimensionen, Medienkonsum und Werteinstellungen unternehmen, um ihre eigene körperliche Darstellung nach außen zu kontrollieren und zu determinieren. Mit Hilfe einer Online-Erhebung wird aufgezeigt, welche Rolle diese Faktoren spielen, und anhand von Strukturgleichungsmodellen werden diese Einflussfaktoren quantifiziert. Der interdisziplinäre theoretische Rahmen integriert soziologische Konzepte wie das Habitus-Konzept von Pierre Bourdieu, medienwissenschaftliche Wirkungsansätze in Form der Kultivierungsthese von George Gerbner und die Schwartz-Werte als Persönlichkeitsmerkmale in einem gemeinsamen empirischen Modell.

It is well known that body image has been associated to health risks related to eating habits. However, to what extent do identity categories, everyday social interaction and common discourses affect our preoccupations and sufferings related to body image in contemporary society, and our coordinated ways of confronting them?In Body Image as an Everyday Problematic, Diaz seeks to offer a comprehensive perspective on body image as an everyday problematic, grounded on verbal accounts of biographic experience. The main body of the book unfolds through five analyses: (1) a framework for how persons are categorized on the grounds of their beauty, weight, or physical appeal; with reference to heterosexual and friendship relations; (2) how men position themselves with respect to culturally provided images of beautiful women in relation to their heterosexual partners; (3) biographic processes through which people locate problems with the body, confront them and interpret them after some time; (4) the role of mothers in providing help across different kinds of problems; and (5) the experiences and contradictions of caring for relatives or partners who suffer for their body image. Indeed, these five analytical threads together compose a structured and rich understanding of the meaningful social order that lies at the core of our everyday preoccupations with the body.Challenging conventional psychological theories of body image, this enlightening volume will appeal to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as Gender Studies, Clinical Psychology and Sociology.

Despite all the efforts to promote change, power and authority still seem to be permanently associated with the white, the straight and the masculine, both symbolically and in the everyday world of organizations. As the intricate relationship between the symbolic and the everyday remains under-researched, this anthology proposes a transdisciplinary feminist perspective drawing on the humanities in order to explore the complex nature of the gendered politics of organizations. Indeed, analyzing how images, narratives, symbols and bodies are all part of how power and gender are constructed in organizations through a broad and international range of empirical studies, Bodies, Symbols and Organizational Practice explores issues at the interstices of the humanities and social sciences, combining theoretical and analytical perspectives from both areas. Providing a radical analysis of the gendered dynamics of power as well as petitioning for radical intervention into those dynamics, this timely volume will appeal to postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as: Organization and Management Studies, Gender studies, Feminist theory and Sociology of Work & Industry.

This volume addresses how the rhetoric of feminist empowerment has been combined with mainstream representations of food, thus creating a cultural consciousness around food and eating that is unmistakably pathological. Throughout, Natalie Jovanovski discusses key texts written by women, for women: best-selling diet books, popular cookbooks produced by female food celebrities, and iconic feminist self-help texts. This is the first book to engage in a feminist analysis of body-policing food trends that focus specifically on the use of feminist rhetoric as a harmful aspect of food culture. There is a smorgasbord of seemingly diverse gender roles for women to choose from, but many encourage breaking gender norms and embracing a love of food while perpetuating old narratives of guilt and restraint. Digesting Femininities problematizes the gendering of food and eating and challenges the reader to imagine what a genderless and emancipatory food culture would look like.

Fidèle à son esprit initial, L'Homme et la Société continue la lutte pour l'auto-émancipation. Ce volume traite du genre, dominant débats contemporains et études féministes. Ce n'est pas sans conséquence politique : selon Mitchell la lutte pour l'égalité des sexes risque d'être oubliée dans le reproche d'hétéronormativité, comme le fait Judith Butler. Les luttes pour l'homosexualité et pour l'égalité se concurrenceraient au profit du genre. Il s'agit de déjouer une approche du genre qui rend illisible l'oppression et l'occulte, en s'enfermant dans l'identité au détriment du social.

In this collection leading thinkers, writers, and activists offer their responses to the simple question “do I have a body, or am I my body?”. The essays engage with the array of meanings that our bodies have today, ranging from considerations of nineteenth-century discourses of bodily shame and otherness, through to arguing for a brand new corporeal vocabulary for the twenty-first century. Increasing numbers of people are choosing to modify their bodies, but as the essays in this volume show, this is far from being a new practice: over hundreds of years, it has evolved and accrued new meanings. This richly interdisciplinary volume maps a range of cultural anxieties about the body, resulting in a timely and compelling book that makes a vital contribution to today's key debates about embodiment.

What is the essence of black dance in America? To answer that question, Brenda Dixon Gottschild maps an unorthodox'geography', the geography of the black dancing body, to show the central place black dance has in American culture. From the feet to the butt, to hair to skin/face, and beyond to the soul/spirit, Brenda Dixon Gottschild talks to some of the greatest choreographers of our day including Garth Fagan, Francesca Harper, Meredith Monk, Brenda Buffalino, Doug Elkins, Ralph Lemon, Fernando Bujones, Bill T. Jones, Trisha Brown, Jawole Zollar, Bebe Miller, Sean Curran and Shelly Washington to look at the evolution of black dance and it's importance to American culture. This is a groundbreaking piece of work by one of the foremost African-American dance critics of our day.

For two and a half years, Amanda Czerniawski was asociologist turned plus-size model. Journeying into a world where, as a size10, she was not considered an average body type, but rather, for the fashionindustry, “plus-sized,” Czerniawski studied the standards of work and imageproduction in the plus-sized model industry.Fashioning Fat takes us through a model's day-to-day activities,first at open calls at modeling agencies and then through the fashion shows andphoto shoots. Czerniawski also interviewed 35 plus-size models about theirlives in the world of fashion, bringing to life the strange contradictions ofbeing an object of non-idealized beauty.Fashioning Fat showsus that the mission of many of these models is to challenge our standards ofbeauty that privilege the thin body; they show us that fat can be sexy. Many plus-sizemodels do often succeed in overcoming years of self-loathing and shame overtheir bodies, yet, as Czerniawski shows, these women are not the ones in chargeof beauty's construction or dissemination. At the corporate level, the fashionindustry perpetuates their objectification. Plus-size models must conform to animage created by fashion's tastemakers, as their bodies must fit withinnarrowly defined parameters of size and shape—an experience not too differentfrom that of straight-sized models. Ultimately, plus-size models find that theyare still molding their bodies to fit an image instead of molding an image ofbeauty to fit their bodies. A much-needed behind-the-scenes look at thisgrowing industry, Fashioning Fat is afascinating, unique, and important contribution to our understanding of beauty.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, American media abound with images and narratives of bodily transformations. At the crossroads of American, cultural, literary, media, gender, queer, disability and governmentality studies, the book presents a timely intervention into critical debates on body transformations and contemporary makeover culture.

In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the contemporary social study of the body which has raised important theoretical and methodological questions regarding traditional social and cultural analysis. It has also generated corporeal theories that highlight the fluid, shifting, yet situated character of the body in society. In turn, these corporeal theories have implications for social relations in an era of new technologies and global market economies.The Body and Everyday Life offers a lively and comprehensive introduction to the study of the body. It uses case studies in performance practices to examine the key concepts, methods and critical insights gained from this area. It includes sections on: ethnographies of the body bodies of performance performing gender the ageing performing body. This book clearly illustrates the complex relationships that exist between the body, society and everyday life, and considers the negative and positive implications for the development of future socio-cultural analysis in the field. It will be an invaluable introduction for students of sociology, body studies, gender studies, dance and performance, and cultural studies.

Explorees the cultural origins and psychological aspects of body identity disorders. Discusses the influence of contemporary virtual and cyberspace imagery on self-image. Draws on author's professional experience largely dedicated to exploring disorders wherein body identity is the chosen field for communication and exchange. Re-examines such illnesses as anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, and others

'This is a very useful book outlining the key concepts of the body in society. It is easy to read and provides useful examples, making it ideal for students across a range of social science disciplines.'- Dr Sharron Hinchliff, Sheffield University'Cregan has achieved something distinct: an account of the sociology of the body which incorporates both theory and empirical studies, which demonstrates excellent coverage of an ever expanding field, and which is written in an accessible style... An intelligent treatment and account of the sociology of the body, which I look forward to incorporating into my teaching.'- Dr Rob Meadows, University of Surrey'This book is a great idea. It provides a thorough, accessible and interesting introduction to the most important concepts in the sociology of the body. Students new to this area will find it invaluable.'- Professor Deborah Lupton, University of Sydney This book provides a clear, focused road map to the study of the body in society. It defines, explains and applies core topics relating to the human body demonstrating how we approach it as a social phenomenon. Each concept: Includes an easy to understand definition Provides real-world examples Gives suggestions for further reading Is carefully cross-referenced to other related concepts. Written to meet the needs of the modern student, this book offers the basic materials, tools and guidance needed study and write about the body.

This interdisciplinary collection explores the role the body plays in constituting our sense of self, signalling the interplay between material embodiment, social meaning, and material and social conditions.

In the past decade, obesity has emerged as a major public health concern in the United States and abroad. At the federal, state, and local level, policy makers have begun drafting a range of policies to fight a war against fat, including body-mass index (BMI) report cards, “snack taxes,” and laws to control how fast food companies market to children. As an epidemic, obesity threatens to weaken the health, economy, and might of the most powerful nation in the world. In Killer Fat, Natalie Boero examines how and why obesity emerged as a major public health concern and national obsession in recent years. Using primary sources and in-depth interviews, Boero enters the world of bariatric surgeries, Weight Watchers, and Overeaters Anonymous to show how common expectations of what bodies are supposed to look like help to determine what sorts of interventions and policies are considered urgent in containing this new kind of disease. Boero argues that obesity, like the traditional epidemics of biological contagion and mass death, now incites panic, a doomsday scenario that must be confronted in a struggle for social stability. The “war” on obesity, she concludes, is a form of social control. Killer Fat ultimately offers an alternate framing of the nation's obesity problem based on the insights of the “Health at Every Size” movement.

Recognizing Transsexuals draws on interviews with transsexuals at various stages of transition to offer an original account of transsexual embodiment and bodily aesthetics. Exploring the reasons for which transpeople desire to modify their bodies, it moves away from the focus on gender that characterizes much work on transpeople's embodiment, to investigate the concept of bodily aesthetics. Recent legislation allowing transsexuals to apply for gender recognition provides the context in which transpeople challenge the conventional understandings of what it means to be men and women. The book examines key approaches to recognizing transsexualism from within a variety of fields and considers transsexuals'bodies, body projects and embodiment in relation to personal, political and medico-legal fields. It explores the ways in which transpeople's bodily aesthetics affect social relations - such as sexual relations, acceptance by others and their families - whilst also considering contemporary political trans community organizations and their public representation of trans-bodies. Recognizing Transsexuals is the first sociological examination of how the bodies of transpeople are figured and reconfigured in socio, politico and medico-legal contexts and considers the impact of these shifts, and will be of interest to those with interests in embodiment, the sociology of law, sexology, medical sociology and gender theory.

We know more about the physical body—how it begins, how it responds to illness, even how it decomposes—than ever before. Yet not all bodies are created equal, some bodies clearly count more than others, and some bodies are not recognized at all. In Missing Bodies, Monica J. Casper and Lisa Jean Moore explore the surveillance, manipulations, erasures, and visibility of the body in the twenty-first century. The authors examine bodies, both actual and symbolic, in a variety of arenas: pornography, fashion, sports, medicine, photography, cinema, sex work, labor, migration, medical tourism, and war. This new politicsof visibility can lead to the overexposure of some bodies—Lance Armstrong, Jessica Lynch—and to the near invisibility of others—dead Iraqi civilians, illegal immigrants, the victims of HIV/AIDS and'natural'disasters.Missing Bodies presents a call for a new, engaged way of seeing and recovering bodies in a world that routinely, often strategically,obscures or erases them. It poses difficult, even startling questions: Why did it take so long for the United States media to begin telling stories about the'falling bodies'of 9/11? Why has the United States government refused to allow photographs or filming of flag-draped coffins carrying the bodies of soldiers who are dying in Iraq? Why are the bodies of girls and women so relentlessly sexualized? By examining the cultural politics at work in such disappearances and inclusions of the physical body the authors show how the social, medical and economic consequences of visibility can reward or undermine privilege in society.

What is the nature of athletic performance? This book offers an answer to this fascinating question by considering the relationship between sport, technology and the body. Specifically, it examines cultural resistance to the enhancement of athletes and explores the ways in which performance technologies complicate and confound our conception of the sporting body. The book addresses concerns about the technological'invasion'of the'natural'body to investigate expectations that athletic performances reflect nothing more than the actual capacity of the untainted athlete. By examining a series of case studies, including Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, Fastskin swimsuits, hypoxic chambers and an array of illicit substances and methods, the book distinguishes between internal and external technologies to highlight the ways that performance enhancement, and public reaction to it, can be read. Sport, Technology and the Body offers a powerful challenge to conventional views of athletic performance that stand authenticity against artifice, integrity against corruption, and athletic purity against technological intrusion. It is essential reading for all serious students of the sociology, culture or ethics of sport.

Tattoos have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially among young people. While tattooing is used as a symbol of personal identity and social communication, there has been little sociological study of the phenomenon. In Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art, tattoo enthusiasts share their stories about their bodies and tattooing experiences. Michael Atkinson shows how enthusiasts negotiate and celebrate their'difference'as it relates to the social stigma attached to body art – how the act of tattooing is as much a response to the stigma as it is a form of personal expression – and how a generation has appropriated tattooing as its own symbol of inclusiveness. Atkinson further demonstrates how the displaying of tattooed bodies to others – techniques of disclosure, justification, and representation – has become a part of the shared experience.Cultural sensibilities about tattooing are discussed within historical context and in relation to broader trends in body modification, such as cosmetic surgery, dieting, and piercing. The author also employs research from a number of disciplines, as well as contemporary sociological and postmodern theory to analyse the enduring social significance of body art.

Written by one of the most distinguished commentators in the field, this book asks why we see some bodies as ′monstrous′ or ′vulnerable′ and examines what this tells us about ideas of bodily ′normality′ and bodily perfection. Drawing on feminist theories of the body, biomedical discourse and historical data, Margrit Shildrick argues that the response to the monstrous body has always been ambivalent. In trying to organize it out of the discourses of normality, we point to the impossibility of realizing a fully developed, invulnerable self. She calls upon us to rethink the monstrous, not as an abnormal category, but as a condition of attractivenes, and demonstrates how this involves an exploration of relationships between bodies and embodied selves, and a revising of the phenomenology of the body.

In this incisive and truly impressive book, Ian Burkitt critically addresses the dualism between mind and body, thought and emotion, rationality and irrationality, and the mental and the material, which haunt the post-Cartesian world. Drawing on the work of contemporary social theorists and feminist writers, he argues that thought and the sense of being a person is inseparable from bodily practices within social relations, even though such active experience may be abstracted and expanded upon through the use of symbols. Overcoming classic dualisms in social thought, Burkitt argues that bodies are not purely the constructs of discourses of power: they are also productive, communicative, and invested with powerful capacities for changing the social and natural worlds. He goes on to consider how such powers can be developed in more ethical forms of relations and activities.

Focusing on the sociological embodiment of various'social actors', the authors consider the subsequent links with the constraints of daily life i.e. the male body, female therapists, body builders, marital and sexual counsellors, sex workers. They present recent or new research findings on aspects of the body, variants from what is conventionally seen as'natural'and consider and question aspects of self-image versus society's expectations. A number of developments in discussions of the body on such topics as feminist thought, the study of health and illness and cultural theory are presented as a series of essays which demonstrate the variety of interests mentioned.; The book is aimed at undergraduates/postgraduates students and lecturers in sociology, cultural studies, women's and gender studies.

In Remaking the Body, Wendy Seymour interviews men and women who have suffered profound bodily paralysis, and explores how they deal with their appearance, relationships, sexuality, incontinence and sport. She finds that even major impairment hasn't annihilated these people's experience of an embodied self. She shows that the process of self-reconstruction is interwoven with social expectations and argues that the experience of disability highlights the continuous work involved in embodiment for everyone.Remaking the Body is a major contribution to the field of the sociology of the body and essential reading for rehabilitation professionals and students.