SOSC 200Y Gender and Society Lecture 9: Body and Technology

L9: The body as a site of social control (Michel Foucault) –Regulate: Regulated by the norms of cultural life Conform to male conceptions of women (cultural image/ femininity) –Improve: improved by the new technologies and new products –To sustain positions of the dominance and subordination.

L9: Normalizing the female body Changing standards of beauty? Increased independence of women?

L9: Normalizing the female body Nowadays’ standards:  Big bust (enlargement of beast via implants, body gel, medicine, push-up bra)  White (Cosmetic laser treatment, medicine, SK-II, Whitening mask, cream, cleanser….)  Young (Chemical peel, plastic surgery, skin care products)  Other modification (various kinds of cosmetic surgeries: lip, cheek, nose, etc.)

L9:  Slim/ thin (excessive exercise and self starvation) The problem of eating disorder -Obsession with body image -Abnormal eating -Self-induced vomiting

L9: Whilst for individual women these techniques have advantages, for women as a whole they can be argued to represent a cumulative narrowing of the range of valuable femininities within a masculine-dominated culture (Pilcher,1999:106).

L9: How do the girls and women think? oNormalize their bodies in order to please male? oFeel good while improving their “look”? oA kind of self-control? oA way to increase self-confidence?  Never join the camp of ‘femininity’?  Any problem in not pursuing the norm?

L9: What about boys’ experience? To what extent are young men in HK satisfied with their bodies? Men’s products: –Skin care –Hair loss treatment –Body modification –Fashions

L9: Suggested Readings: Bordo, S. (2003) Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. Berkeley: University of California Press. Ch. 5