SOC101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Methylphenidate, Mental Disorder, Infant Mortality
An on-going focus of this course is the difference that living in society
makes to what we do, how we see ourselves, objects and others, and
what happens as a result
○
Yet our bodies are something we have 'inherited,' fully made up by
genes and thus not a 'product' of society
○
Belief in such immutability, however, is an error
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The Body : not just biology
Like anything else about us, the circumstance of living in society makes
an enormous amount of difference to our bodies
○
Even though a lot about the size and form of our bodies is determined by
genes - our social environment impacts it too (i.e. height and weight),
and societal pressures pushes us to turn our bodies in a condition that is
recognized as being right and proper
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Evaluated and ranked --> this is better than that
○
Kind of society in which we live affects whether we are at peace
with our body
▪
See bodies as a task --> something to work on / requires daily care
and attention
▪
Society sets standards to approved shape / look
▪
Perfection and Satisfaction
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Embodied Selves
Failure to comply with standards can induce feelings of shame -->
teasing
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Prejudicial attitudes towards disabled people as manifest in the
very design of buildings
▪
Bodies are objects of social condition
▪
Foucault - views on technologies of the self
▪
Those not meeting such requirements may find themselves subjected to
routine discrimination
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Discrimination based on the body
Watch closely what we eat, drink, breathe
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Food or air may do harm to the body or be poisonous
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Food that are good / bad for us
▪
A whole industry and set of marketing techniques that are part of
discourses of the body
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Body as site of Anxiety
Not just about anxiety
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Industry that prompts us to seek sensation : films, soaps, glossy
magazines, commercials, books and shop windows
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Eating / drinking are social occasions that may induce pleasurable
sensations and exciting experiences
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Body as a site of pleasure
Part of the concern with our bodies, to train them, exercise them is to be
more healthy and fit
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Pursuit of health and fitness
Lecture 2.7: The Body & Health
March 8, 2017
12:00 PM
LECTURE Page 67
more healthy and fit
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Health is about balance
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Fitness can be about pushing oneself even further
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Not only about the site and tool of desire, but also an object of desire
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It is our body that other people see first
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Body is the site of ourselves that is always on display and people tend to
judge by what they can see
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Forms first impressions --> what we take to be 'inner lives,' -
attractiveness, beauty, elegance, charm
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The Body and Desire
How we manage our bodies is learnt while, at the same time, how others
see us is the product of common expectation
○
Deviations from these may cause reflection, as well as reaction from
others, leaving those who are identified as being different at a
disadvantage, despite the evident skills, abilities, and contributions that
they might otherwise make to a society
○
Shape of the body, the way it is dressed, and made up and the way it
moves are messages to others
○
Not just biologically, but also socially defined
▪
Socially - urbanized societies present people with many more
opportunities to meet and interact with strangers and have
created desire in people to transform their bodies
□
Technologically - created technologies to transform the body
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Economically - industrialised societies enable people to afford
technologies that transform their bodies
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Enhancing one's body image to conform to prevailing norms has
become especially important in urban, industrial societies because:
▪
Body and Society
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The Body
Is a physical or health condition that reduces a person's ability to
perform tasks he or she would normally do at a given state of life
within range of "normal" human activity
▪
Given determination of "normal" or "deficient" is subjective,
disability is socially constructed
▪
Can depend on social attitudes and the social and physical
environments in which people live
▪
About 4.4 million or 14% of Canadians have one or more physical or
mental disabilities
▪
Advance in medical tech
□
People live longer
□
More willing to report disabilities
□
Persons born with serious disabilities are more likely to
survive infancy
□
Why more?
▪
Disability
○
Curing disabilities to extent possible through medical and
technological intervention
▪
Trying to improve lives of people with disabilities by means of care,
training, and education
▪
Integrating people with disabilities into society
Rehabilitation - Historical Perspective
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Social Construction of Disability
LECTURE Page 68
Document Summary
An on-going focus of this course is the difference that living in society makes to what we do, how we see ourselves, objects and others, and what happens as a result. Yet our bodies are something we have "inherited," fully made up by genes and thus not a "product" of society. Belief in such immutability, however, is an error. Like anything else about us, the circumstance of living in society makes an enormous amount of difference to our bodies. Evaluated and ranked --> this is better than that. Kind of society in which we live affects whether we are at peace with our body. See bodies as a task --> something to work on / requires daily care and attention. Society sets standards to approved shape / look. Failure to comply with standards can induce feelings of shame --> teasing. Those not meeting such requirements may find themselves subjected to routine discrimination.
