Sociology of the body
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Sociology of the body is a branch of
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
studying the representations and social uses of the
human body The human body is the structure of a Human, human being. It is composed of many different types of Cell (biology), cells that together create Tissue (biology), tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the life, viabi ...
in modern societies.


Early theories

According to
Thomas Laqueur Thomas Walter Laqueur (born September 6, 1945) is an American historian, sexologist and writer. He is the author of ''Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation'' and ''Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud'' as well as many ...
, prior to the eighteenth century the predominant model for a social understanding of the body was the " one sex model/one flesh model". It followed that there was one model of the body which differed between the sexes and races, for example, the vagina was simply seen as a weaker version of the penis and even thought to emit sperm. This was changed by
the Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
. In the sixteenth century, Europe began to participate in the
slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
and in order to justify this a large quantity of literature was produced showing the deviant
sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
and savagery of the African ( Fanon, 1976). In the eighteenth century, the ideas of
egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
and universal and inalienable rights were becoming the intellectual norm. However, they could not justify the subordination of women within this theory. To explain these the ''biology of incommensurability'' was created. This essentially claimed that different sexes and races were better adjusted for different tasks and could therefore show the necessity of discrimination and subordination. For example,
craniometry Craniometry is measurement of the cranium (the main part of the skull), usually the human cranium. It is a subset of cephalometry, measurement of the head, which in humans is a subset of anthropometry, measurement of the human body. It is dis ...
was used to show people of African descent to be less evolved than those of European descent (
Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, a ...
, 1981). This was also combined with the technological developments which were taking place, leading to people seeing the body as a machine and therefore understandable, classifiable and repairable, one of the first examples of this was the work of
William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and proper ...
in the early seventeenth century. Another early key area of development was the
Cartesian Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to: Mathematics *Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory *Cartesian coordinate system, modern ...
Dichotomy A dichotomy is a partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothing can belong simulta ...
. This saw the mind and the body as separated and led to the principle of interaction between the two being an accepted theory on the body until the development of the Structuralist approach in the twentieth century.


The importance of studying the body

Especially important within the sociology of the body tradition is the
sociology of health and illness The sociology of health and illness, sociology of health and wellness, or health sociology examines the interaction between society and health. As a field of study it is interested in all aspects of life, including contemporary as well as histor ...
. This is because illness may obviously reduce the level of normal functioning of the body. Also, increasingly people in society believe that illness is prevented by fulfilling activities leading to a healthy body (thus changing one's lifestyle) such as dieting and exercise, as well as avoiding anything that can cause damage to the body, like smoking. Moreover, medical science is now able to alter our bodies through plastic surgery, transplanting organs, reproductive aids and even change in an unborn baby's genetic structure. 1


Historical physical practices

In France a lot of researchers have been working on this topic. The first one was probably Jean-Marie Brohm, writing a book titled Body and politics in 1974 (Delarge), but he has been followed by numerous authors. Georges Vigarello wrote ''Le Corps redressé'', in 1978, Christian Pociello ''Sports et Société'' en 1981, André Rauch ''Le souci du corps'' in 1983, Jacques Gleyse ( fr) ''Archéologie de l'Education physique au XXe siècle en France'', in 1995 and ''L'Instrumentalisation du corps'', in 1997. He is specially working on the topic of links between words and flesh. Various journals are publishing papers in this domain in France: STAPS International Journal of Sport Science and Physical Education, Corps & Culture, Corps that could be consulted on the web. But quite all those works are not translated in English so they are difficult to access for the most of American and English researchers on the topic.


Body image and related disorders

Sociology of the body has become deeply affected by society and the way in which society views one another, which in turn results in the way in which people, as individuals, view themselves. At one end of the spectrum, there are
eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating d ...
s such as
anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...
and
bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eate ...
, and on the other end, there is a growing epidemic of
obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
, especially in the US. Both ideals have increased widely over the last few decades due in part to growing mass media coverage in which there are norms within society and the always growing pressure to either look and feel a certain way. *Anorexia, a disorder often defined as a "markedly reduced appetite or total aversion to food" (Definition of Anorexia, 2003). Often along with excessive exercise this is the one disorder that has led to the large increase in overly thin individuals. Along with anorexia, bulimia, "a disorder that can be defined as episodes of secretive excessive eating (binge-eating) followed by inappropriate methods of weight control, such as self-induced vomiting (purging), abuse of laxatives and diuretics, or excessive exercise" has also been an increased method used by individuals all over the world in the fight to remain sometimes deadly thin (Definition of Bulimia 2003). Both disorders are rooted in feelings of shame and desire to have control over one's body (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, and Carr 2009).Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, and Carr. (2009). Introduction to Sociology, Seventh Edition. New York, London: W. W. Norton. Pg. 566-572. The individual feels inadequate and imperfect. They may have anxieties about how others perceive them which becomes a focus on feelings about their body. At that point, shedding weight becomes the means of making everything right in their world. The fact that we have a strong personal independence over our bodies in the past presents us with positive possibilities as well as new anxieties and problems (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, and Carr 2009). *This idea is what sociologists call "socialization of nature", which is a phenomenon that used to be "natural", or given in nature, and have now become social and depend on our social decisions. *Obesity, the state of being well above one's normal weight, has become the other end of the distorted ideas about body image (Definition of obesity, 2001).Definition of Obesity
/ref> According to the Centers for Disease Control, roughly 60 percent of adult Americans are now over weight, and an estimated 6.5 percent of American children ages six to eleven along with 5 percent of ages twelve to nineteen are overweight (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, and Carr 2009). Reasons thought to be behind obesity vary widely and are often debated. Some believe it has to do with the "population being a statistical artifact, some believe that
childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of ...
is due to compositional factors, and then others believe that the problems are due to something called an "obesogenic environment"." Sociologists are perplexed mostly in the persistence of negative attitudes towards overweight and obese individuals. *From the sociological perspective the interactions that have been seen to show up between society and that of obese individuals is that persons of obesity are more likely to experience employment discrimination, discrimination by health care providers, and the daily experience of teasing, insult, and shame (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, and Carr 2009).


People in or who influenced sociology of the body

*
Philippe Ariès Philippe Ariès (; 21 July 1914 – 8 February 1984) was a French medievalist and historian of the family and childhood, in the style of Georges Duby. He wrote many books on the common daily life. His most prominent works regarded the change in t ...
*
Alexandre Baril Alexandre Baril (born 1979 in Granby, Quebec), is a Canadian writer and since 2018 an associate professor at the School of Social Work, at the University of Ottawa. He researches sexual and gender diversity, bodily diversity (( dis)ability a ...
* Susan Bordo *
Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu (; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influence i ...
*
Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...
* Peter Conrad *
Mary Douglas Dame Mary Douglas, (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkhei ...
*
Norbert Elias Norbert Elias (; 22 June 1897 – 1 August 1990) was a German sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes. Biography Elias was born on 22 June 1897 in Bresla ...
*
Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have be ...
* Mike Featherstone *
Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
*
Erving Goffman Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born sociology, sociologist, Social psychology (sociology), social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth ...
*
Donna Haraway Donna J. Haraway is an American Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department and Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a prominent scholar in the field of science and technology studies. Sh ...
*
Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, bg, Юлия Стоянова Кръстева; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has ...
*
Thomas W. Laqueur Thomas Walter Laqueur (born September 6, 1945) is an American historian, sexologist and writer. He is the author of ''Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation'' and ''Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud'' as well as many ...
* Deborah Lupton * Ann Oakley * John O'Neill *
Susie Orbach Susie Orbach (born 6 November 1946) is a British psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer and social critic. Her first book, ''Fat is a Feminist Issue'', analysed the psychology of dieting and over-eating in women, and she has campaigned against m ...
*
Nikolas Rose Nikolas Rose is a British sociologist and social theorist. He is Distinguished Honorary Professor at the Research School of Social Sciences, in the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the Australian National University and Honorary Profes ...
* Barbara Katz Rothman *
Dorothy E. Smith Dorothy Edith Smith (née Place; 6 July 1926 – 3 June 2022) was a British-born Canadian ethnographer, feminist studies scholar, sociologist, and writer with research interests in a variety of disciplines, including women's studies, feminist t ...
* Bryan Turner


See also

*
Sociology of health and illness The sociology of health and illness, sociology of health and wellness, or health sociology examines the interaction between society and health. As a field of study it is interested in all aspects of life, including contemporary as well as histor ...
, a subfield of sociology one of whose characteristics is that it interacts with sociology of the body more than
medical sociology Medical sociology is the sociological analysis of medical organizations and institutions; the production of knowledge and selection of methods, the actions and interactions of healthcare professionals, and the social or cultural (rather than clin ...
does


References

{{Sociology2
Body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...
Human body