Sociology Seeking to understand the sociology of the mastectomied body, it is important to look to the discipline of sociology—how are the breasted body and the mastectomied body represented and used in society? This is a question that can be answered by sociology. This section will focus on sources that expose the sociology of the breast, itself. Additionally, these sources explore the social penalties following mastectomy and examine how mastectomized women “manage” their stigmatized bodies. Firstly, one should consider the sociology of the breast—the tissue, the symbolism, and the cultural meanings attached to it. In Sociology of Breast Tissue, researchers explore the emotional, social, cultural and gender specific aspects of mastectomy …show more content…
These sources expose the complex, multifaceted and continued debate surrounding the definitions of femininity and who, in our society, gets to define it. Medicine, historically, has used a narrow and androcentric worldview to define the ideal woman as breasted—marginalizing the mastectomized body with scientific sexism. Feminism disrupts the assumptions of medicine and reclaims a space for women to define their own sense of womanhood. These perspectives—medicine and feminism—are seemingly at odds with one another. However, Feminism can be used to understand the social nature of breasts and mastectomy which translates to and informs sociology. By using this triad—medicine, feminism, and sociology—we expose the situatedness of breastless women within the broader social context. These sources, in a way, are meant to build upon one another—each new source filling a void left by the former. Each source acts like a puzzle piece. Combine them and you find a historically and biographically accurate presentation of the mastectomied body and breastless women. Without one perspective, the image becomes blurred and biased. Taking them all into account, we can come to a better conclusion. The overarching theme of the course content has been understanding the histories and structures connected to the body—different types of bodies. Similarly, these sources allow us to do the same for the body of breastless women. These sources offer the histories of mastectomy and breastless bodies, and they delineate the interconnectedness of the mastectomied body and society. Countless times, we have discussed maintaining an open-mind in regard to how we relate, as individuals, to these bodies. If there is a single take away, it would be to treat the bodies that may be different from your own as equals—to reject any judgements of value. There is no need for hierarchy or an ideal. We can all just be.
Like a blueprint or instruction manual, the objective of a rhetorical analysis is to dissect a written argument, identify its many parts, and explain how all of them come together to achieve a desired effect. Susan Bordo, a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky, wrote “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies”, published in 2003 in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Her essay examines how the media plays a pervasive role in how women view their bodies to the point where we live in an empire of images and there are no protective borders. In “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies”, Bordo not only effectively incorporates numerous facts and statistics from her own research and the research of others; she also appeals to emotional realities of anxiety and inadequacy felt by women all over the world in regards to their body image. Ultimately, her intent is to critique the influence of the media on self-confidence and body image, and to remind her audience of the overt as well as subconscious messages they are receiving on a daily basis.
The overriding right to bodily autonomy is considered characteristically male by many feminists. Females in contrasts seem to be assumed to be
In her essay ”'This Breast -It's Me'; Fanny Burney's Mastectomy and the Defining Gaze”, Heidi Kaye presents and interesting and convincing idea, that Burney resist seeing a doctor because she feels uncomfortable about a male doctor examining her. ”When she fina...
The conversion of feminism into a binary relationship simplifies the bigger picture of the feminist debate, and thus makes it easier to read. This in turn reaches an audience that is larger than just the highly educated feminists; something that feminists have argued is needed to make the movement stronger. However, on another level, who can interpret what is real feminism and what steps are forward? At what point are we ‘genuinely’ enjoying our sexuality as women and at what point are we simply seeking attention from men? At what point are we being manipulated by our consumer culture? This is ultimately something that every woman must decide for herself.
In today society, beauty in a woman seems to be the measured of her size, or the structure of her nose and lips. Plastic surgery has become a popular procedure for people, mostly for women, to fit in social class, race, or beauty. Most women are insecure about their body or face, wondering if they are perfect enough for the society to call the beautiful; this is when cosmetic surgery comes in. To fix what “needed” to be fixed. To begin with, there is no point in cutting your face or your body to add or remove something most people call ugly. “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery” explored the desire of human to become beyond perfection by the undergoing plastic surgery. The author, Camille Pagalia, took a look how now days how Americans are so obsessed
When examining femininity, one notes that it is constantly being altered and shaped by the beliefs of those who participate within the patriarchy. There seems to be a set standard on how women should display their femininity, and boundaries that should not be crossed. Although many people believe that women are reclaiming both their sexuality and femininity, I feel as though that hasn’t been totally possible. I believe that the surveillance of women’s bodies can prevent them from reclaiming their sexuality and femininity or encourages them to regain it.
The reading assigned titled “The Socially Constructed Body” by Judith Lorber and Yancey Martin dives into the sociology of gender with a specific focus on how the male and female body is compromised by social ideals in the Western culture. She introduces the phenomenon of body ideals pressed on men and women by introducing the shift in cosmetic surgery toward body modifications.
When posed with the question “What is woman?” it seems a daunting task to lay an umbrella statement to describe an entire gender. Upon further reflection, however, it seems that this overwhelming inability to answer the question, may in fact, be the answer to the question itself. Within the past two decades Maria Lugones and Elizabeth Spelman, Caroline Whitbeck, Geraldine Finn, and Helene Cixous have addressed the meaning of woman. There is not a concrete answer to “What is woman?” either produced by women or produced through men’s perceptions of women.
The women-centered event I chose to attend for this assignment was a workshop called ‘Look Good, Feel Better’. Doing a little bit of background research I found that this workshop is Canada’s only charitable cancer program that is dedicated to empowering women on how to manage the effects cancer and its treatments can have on their appearance. Using the example of the ‘Look Good Feel Better’ workshop for women undergoing cancer treatment, I will analyze the concept of body image, Third Wave Feminism idea of empowerment along with the difference between men and women’s appearance in society.
Reynolds, Matthew J. Culture Shock: Of beggars and breasts: what a shame. 26 February 2001. Web. 9 December 2013.
The most related terms when women’s right is brought up are feminism and feminist. A feminist, by definition, is someone the fights for feminism. The definition of feminism, one the other hand, is very complex. Throughout history, the word has continuously had bad images and connotations thrown its wa...
What is within the boundaries of the feminine is always considered to have less status and power and is always subordinate and marginal—women always remain ‘other’. I perceive feminism as a part of the process of challenging the boundaries of the socially constructed role for women in our society—a process which through struggle will create for women a different notion of the normal and natural and a different tradition of being female. (Goodman, Harrop 4)
Excerpt from K. Conboy, N. Medina and S. Stanbury, eds. Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and Feminist Theory (401-17). NY: Columbia University Press, 1997.
Exact Beauty: Exploring Women's Body Projects and Problems in the 21st Century. Mandell, Nancy (5th ed.). Feminist Issues: Race, Class, and Sexuality (131-160). Toronto: Pearson Canada, Inc. Schulenberg, Jennifer, L. (2006).
Young, Iris Manon. Breasted Experience: The Look and the Feeling. From Throwing Like a Girl. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1990.