susan bordo feminism western culture and the body

“the symbolic and practical control of female hunger (read: desire), continually constructed as a problem in patriarchal cultures” p68 But she relates this also to sexual appetites, which I’m interested in exploring further in my research. Bordo is primarily focussed on hunger and the impact of norms in bringing about suppression of (literal) appetites in order to take up less space in the world. This cultural exercising of power upon the body is wrapped up in social expectations of women (in particular) to deny and constrict their appetites.

Power is distributed through other people who are observing and judging us (‘the gaze’) but we also internalise these norms and reproduce this power upon ourselves self-surveilling and self-correcting to norms. Power works upon us through policy and regulation (eg abortion laws) as well as norms (eg beauty standards, or equating ‘femininity’ with ‘docility/domesticity’).

So, for example, in relation to the body, we are all subjected to power through the practices and bodily habits of everyday life, and our bodies are a key element in establishing our role within society. Instead, power is something which is sustained by multiple processes of regulation, in all areas of society. However, in a nutshell, Foucault views power not as a ‘top-down’ hierarchical force, not as something individuals or groups ‘have’ innately and exercise over others. Bordo discusses power in a Foucauldian sense and I’m planning to discuss his writings in depth in a future post, so I won’t go into too much detail here.

Susan bordo feminism western culture and the body