Feminist Perspectives on the Body

198 Pages·1999·9.269 MB·English

by  Barbara Brook

Feminist Perspectiveso n the Body
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVESS ERIES
SeriesE ditors:
ProfessorP amelaA bbott, University of Teesside
ProfessorC laire Wallace, Institute for AdvancedS tudies,A ustria
and University of Derby, UK.
ForthcomingT itles:
Feminist perspectiveso n language
MargaretG ibbon
Feminist perspectiveso n politics
Chris Corrin
Feminist perspectiveso n postcolonialism
MaryanneD ever and Denise Cuthbert
Feminist perspectiveso n disability
BarbaraF awcett
Feminist perspectiveso n domesticv iolence
Laura Goldsacka ndJ ill Radford
Feminist perspectiveso n environmenta nd society
Beate Littig and BarbaraH egenbart
Feminist perspectiveso n ethics
ElizabethP orter
FEMINIST PERSPECTIVESS ERIES
Feminist Perspectives
on the Body
Barbara Brook
Routlege
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published1 999 by PearsonE ducationL imited
Published2 014 by Routledge
2 Park Square,M ilton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXI4 4RN
711 Third Avenue, 1'1 ew York, 1'IY 1001 7, USA
Routledgei , an imprint of the ~1yl+or an[i,& 1+an[i, GroujJ, an infimna business
Copyright © 1999, Taylor & Francis.
The right of BarbaraB rook to be identified as author of this Work has
beena ssertedb y her in accordancew ith the Copyright, Designsa nd
PatentsA ct 1988.
A.lI rights reserved.N o part of this book may be reprintedo r reproducedo r utilised
in any ionn or by any electronic,I llechanical, or other lneans,n ow known or here-
after invented,i ncluding photocopyinga nd recording,o r in any inforrrlauon stor-
age or retrieval systerrl, without perrrlissioni n writing frOln the publishers.
1'Iotices
Kno\vledgea nd bestp racticei n this field are constantlyc hanging.. i \s new research
and experienceb roadeno ur understandingc, hangesin researchI llethods, profes-
sional practices,o r lnedical treatlnentl nay hecoille necessary.
Practitionersa nd researchersm ust always rely on their own experiencea nd knowl-
edgei n evaluatinga nd using any infonnation,I llethods, cOlnpounds,o r experi-
mentsd escribedh erein. In using suchi nformation or methodst hey shouldb e
mindful of their own safety andt he safety of others,i ncluding partiesf or whom
they have a professionalr esponsibility.
'10 the fullest extento f the law, neithert he Publishern or the authors,c ontributors,
or editors, assumea ny liability for any injury and/o r damaget o personso r prop-
erty as a Illatter of productsl iahility, negligenceo r othenvise,o r froIll any use or
operationo f any methods,p roducts,i nstructions,o r ideasc ontainedi n the
Illaterial herein.
ISBN 13: 978-0-582-35639-9ip bk)
British Library Cataloguing-in-PublicationD ata
A cataloguer ecord for this book is available from the British Library
Library of CongressC ataloging-in-PublicationD ata
Brook, Barbara,1 949-
Feminist perspectiveo n the body / BarbaraB rook.
p. cm. - (Feminist perspectivess eries)
Includesb ibliographicalr eferencesa nd index.
ISBN 0-582-35639-3
1. Body, Human-Sociala spects. 2. Body, Human-Political
aspects. 3. Women-Physiology. 4. Human reproduction.
5. Body image in women. 6. Surgery, Plastic-Psychological
aspects. 7. Feminist theory. I. Title. II. Series.
GT495.B76 1999
391.6'082-dc21 98-52841
CIP
Typesetb y 35 in 10/12ptN ew Baskerville
Contents
SeriesE ditors' Preface vii
Preface ix
1 Bodies of feminist knowledge 1
2 Reproducingb odies 22
3 Bodies on the threshold 44
4 Cutting bodiest o size 65
5 Public bodies 89
6 Performancea nd spectacle 111
7 Virtual bodies 136
Glossary 158
Bibliography 162
Index 178
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Series Editors' Preface
The aim of the FeministP erspectivess eriesi s to provide a concise
introduction to different topics from a feminist perspective.T he
topics were chosena s being of interestf or studentso n a range of
different degreec oursesa nd in a range of different disciplines.
They reflect the currenti nteresti n feminist issuesa nd in women's
studiesi n a wide rangeo f fields. The seriesa ims to provide a guide
through the burgeoninga nd sometimesr ather arcanel iteratures
which have grown around various feminist topics. The texts are
written by experiencedte achersa nda cademicsp roviding lively and
interesting accountso f topics of current interest. They include
examplesa nd cases tudieso r statisticali nformationw herer elevant
in order to make the material more accessiblea nd stimulating.
The texts contain chaptero utlines and summariesf or conveni-
ent, quick access.T here are also suggestionsfo r further reading.
By focusing on feminist perspectiveso n the body, this text by
BarbaraB rook cuts acrossa rangeo f issuesa nd a rangeo f theories
to provide new insights. Many peopleh avew ritten eithere xplicitly
or implicitly aboutt he body and the literature cited herei ncludes
many of the major social theoristso f our times. The authorb egins
by consideringf eminist theoriesa nd accountso f the body but then
moveso nto issuesw hich affect women'sb odiesi n particular,i nclud-
ing pregnancy,c hildbirth, menstruation,m enopausea nd debates
aboutr eproductivet echnology.S he then considerst he discipline
and shapingo f female bodiest hrough the exampleso f eating dis-
orders, cosmetic surgery and body building, offering a feminist
understandingo f thesei ssuesa s well as a revue of the debates.T he
accountss eekingt o recogniset he 'swampy' messyf eminine body
are contrastedw ith ideasa boutt he performanceo f femininity using
viii Feminist Perspectiveso n the Body
contrastinge xampless uch as transvestism,a thleticism and circus
artists, as well as the usual activity of teaching. A further area
covered by the book is that of the body as it is situatedi n law,
human rights and public discourse.I n her final chapter,B arbara
Brook looks at virtual bodies.D oesc yberspacer epresendt isembodi-
ment? She considerst o what extentc yberspaceo ffers a liberation
from gender identities and how feminists can offer alternative
visions of cyberspacea, n arenad ominatedb y masculinef antasies
and male-dominatedt echnologies.T he book is, therefore,a use-
ful guide through many much contesteda reaso f researcha s well
as offering an interesting- feminist - perspectiveo n the subject
of the body.
Claire Wallace and Pamela Abbott
Preface
While I was working on this book I was also vlsItmg the Uni-
versity of Manchestera nd had beena skedt o give a paper: I had
decidedt o rework one that I had originally given in Australia, and
had starteda lmost a year previously, on some issueso f teaching/
learning women'ss tudiesw ithin the Australian university system.
I was concerned,i n the paper, with the contradictory ways in
which, as women'ss tudies and feminist thought start to become
more 'legitimate' within the university, they acquiret he tools and
trappings (in every sense)o f the institution, including its inertia.
I was looking at the (modest) proliferation of feminist 'texts' that
are starting to acquire the statuso f 'required reading' and what
this meansf or women's studies. As I reworked the paper for a
different, English, audience,i t dawnedo n me that I was currently
engagedi n producing something that aspired to be just such
another' text': this book.
It was a salutary moment that jolted me out of the enjoyable
but essentiallys olitary researcha nd re-readingI was immersedi n
and remindedm e of the peoplef or whom I had originally wanted
to write this book: different bodies who are students- whether
in an institutional setting or, more broadly, in their engagement
with ideas. I called that earlier paper' Dirty Little Secrets'b orrow-
ing a phraseu sedb y the North Americanf eminist,janeT ompkins
(1990) in her questioningo f why so many academicsa re reluctant
to identifY themselvesa s teachers.I was concernedw ith the ways
that many feminist writers, when writing 'text(book)s', seem to
adopt unreflectively many of the most distancinga nd, one might
say, masculinist,w riting habits of the academy:a nd this includes
those writers centrally engagedw ith how meaningsd evelop and