Bodily representations
Proposed to be offered next in 1996
C Atmore and L Healey
8 points * 2 hours per week * First semester * Clayton
This subject begins from the premise that the ways in which human bodies are represented in societies can tell us a great deal about the structures and cultural values of those societies. Social processes act on bodies, and in doing so, construct both our bodies and our ideas about what bodies actually are. These representations of bodies feed back into ideas about society, such as dominant views about the nature of a desirable social order. Taking as theoretical backdrop the stance that there is no natural body outside specific social contexts, we examine specific aspects of cultural representations of human bodies, in the context of some overlapping themes: the disciplined and scientifically studied body, the sexed and sexualised body, the exotic body and the racially marked body. Topic areas we will look at relevant to these themes include the politics of representing struggles of `third world women,' rape, pornography and the sexual politics of food and beauty.
Assessment
Seminar paper (2000 words): 40% * Essay (4000 words): 60%
Recommended texts
Allen J and Grosz E (eds) Special issue: Feminism and the body (Australian feminist studies 5, Summer, 1987)
Butler J Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity Routledge, 1990
Haraway D Primate visions: Gender, race, and nature in the world of modern science Routledge, 1989