Rebranding the Body: Cultivating Exceptionalism Through Modification - Essay Sample

Introduction

The culture of the body comprises of an extensive range of distinct and different practices. The practices involve various ways people try to become different by modifying their bodies and rebranding themselves. The multiple methods of becoming and feeling exceptional include consumption of specific foods and drinking habits, nudism and bodybuilding, sports and exercises, aesthetic surgery, make-ups, and tattooing for acceptance by society.

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The body is a center of activity of social meaningness whereby the people display cultural solitude and their social aspirations. In the field of social sciences and humanities, academics primarily dwell in crucial aspects of; body culture, reinforced the process of social differentiation and supposition on social class. Two, female bodies and physical activities on sexuality and gender positions and functions. The presentation of what is considered right in body adornment and social and ethnic communities. Thirdly, the development of the social body to establish a feeling of fulfillment and individual efficiency. Lastly, professionals in politics, healthcare, and educator's role in the promotion of exercise to create a performance-oriented workforce.

Social Distinction and Class

The physical body appearance of skin complexion and body size or shape has widely been attributed to the existing disparity in the fields of sex, social inequality, and race or ethnic communities. The differences are used to legitimize the marginalized groups' discrepancies through labeling and categorizing them as inferior and lacking self-discipline.

Studies have revealed that women who are economically empowered are more concerned and likely not to contend with their bodies than women who are not financially stable. Body dissatisfaction is more of an importance to women than men. The discontent of women with their bodies is primarily blamed on the media as they frequently portray women with thinner bodies as the symbol of beauty and perfect health (McLaren & Kuh, 2004).

For example, in the 1960s, a fashion model referred to as 'twiggy' was displayed continuously as the ideal symbol of beauty due to her thinner and taller body. The display by the media resulted in adverse outcomes on the type of women who are not able to live up to the standards. The women started to starve themselves and regularly doing exercises; women who were still not able to achieve the standard were bullied or felt inadequate or not good enough. (Brumberg, 1988). Activities that are geared to the promotion of body culture has been a guide to represent and reinforce social differences. Body culture has been part of the field of conversation for which social class generalization has been discussed.

For example, in France during the 20th-century, women, beauty, and cleanliness emerged as a symbol of position in the French middle-class women who were able to purchase or own bathtubs and other expensive beauty products such as cosmetics. Thus resulted in the emergence of specific behavior and habits that are only associated with particular social classes (Stewart, 2001).

Sexuality and Gender Roles

The term gender is widely disputed with different meanings and definitions. Gender broadly refers to the relationship that exists between men and women in the various social context of sexuality, culture, masculinity, and feminism. Bradley suggests gender be looked at in three forms: a social theory, a politically organized construct, and finally, gender, to be viewed as a way of living. (Bradley, 2013).

For the people who are to preserve and maintain the status quo, the emergence of the 'new woman' who is sexually and economically independent is the undesirable duplicate to an ethically idealistic feminine kind who was against city entertainment in favor of fitness living and raising kids. The fresh modern woman represents herself through fabricating her looks over various ways, such as aesthetic surgery, sometimes referred to as plastic surgery, applying cosmetics, and healthy living with physical exercises. Such an approach was a response against dissertations that defended female sexual liberation of adopting behavior and activities that are majorly considered males, such as engaging in late-night activities like drinking in bars and clubs and smoking (Bourdieu, 1984).

Feminists who advocate for women's role in society to be free from social, sexual, and financially dependent are more likely to support women to engage in competitive sport as part of body culture. They are aware that women who engage in domestic activities should also participate in strenuous exercise due to the benefits they offer (De Grazia, 1992).

Adornment, Inclusion, and Exclusion

The process of modification and decoration of the human body functions is a way of acceptance or segregation from social, ethnic, and racial groups in society. In the western world, especially aesthetic surgery has widely been accepted and practiced since it allows people to rectify denounced physical features. The physical parts may be associated with certain racial or ethnic groups that may be undesirable (Gilman, 1999). Those undertaking such decisions to correct their physical appearance hope to be socially accepted and find comfort and pleasure by looking 'normal.' Hence in most political and social spheres, cultural body practices act as a way of inclusion and exclusion.

For example, like the many ways of decorating the human body, tattooing and branding could accomplish several social functions. For instance, in the 19th century, Russian authorities employed branding as a form of control for the criminal populations. The Soviet prisoners countered the humiliation from such a move and elevated themselves in the ladder through tattooing (Caplan, 2000). The art of tattooing among young men is viewed; differently most young men with tattoos face social insecurity in the form of future employment, financial freedom, and societal judgment. In Australia, for instance, when young people with tattoos seek employment, they might risk not getting a job as most employers would be biased in hiring someone with visible tattoos (Bekhor et al., 1995). Hence this has led to widespread campaign and sometimes financial support for young men who would wish to get their tattoos removed (Ross, 1985).

People are changing their bodies through exercises such as bodybuilding and plastic surgery to act as if it were through the fake physical body that they attain personal identity as if personal identity can be forged through physical attributes (Caplan, 2000). Although most people change their body for acceptance in society as ordinary people, other people transform their bodies through aesthetic surgery to seek attention through looking different and standing out from the rest of the people from the community.

For example, in Nazi German, members of the community were expected to have a particular physical attribute; hence people endeavored to possess such characteristics through activities such as exercise and application of cosmetics to attain the accepted norm of attractiveness and good health. The depiction of beauty and desirable physical attributes in culture formed the basis of the mass murder of the disabled people in 1939 as it was justified (Hau, 2003).

Drag culture or drag queens create a mockery of gender on women by appropriately exaggerating the attributes of cultural stereotypes associated with women such as dressing, hairstyles, adornment, and behaviors such as spitefulness. The drag culture creates an image that makes it easy for young women to acknowledge the drag portrait of women as the way a woman should behave or act (Lorenz, 2012).

Body of Politics

Bodies act as a basis on which creations of differences are placed on human beings for the product of systematic organizations like government regulation as a way of making sure that bodies act in a socially and politically way that is accepted. The bodies are categorized as masculine or feminine, fat or skinny, young old, heterosexual or homosexual, and able-bodied or disabled. The states sometimes use these groupings in choosing what rights to acknowledge both the minorities and the marginalized communities (Brown & Gershon, 2017).

Rights and freedom of the Populations are administered and treated differently for the bodies that go contrary to the norms of sexual, social, cultural, and sometimes even political lines. For example, in the modern world, the constitutional rights of citizens are upheld differently for the LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals), ethnic or racial minorities, people living with a disability, or even rights of women who want to go through with an abortion. In the application of the bill of rights that are enjoyed by the 'ordinary people' such privacy rights, protection rights and entitlements are administered differently to the people that fall under each set category.

Feminist intellectuals established that states and governments use the body as a way of trying to shape the society to conform in such a way that is deemed culturally and socially acceptable and thus using the body as a way of colonization and control (Foucalt, 1977).

Reference List

Bekhor, P. S., Bekhor, L. & Gandrabur, M., 1995. Employer Attitudes Towards Persons with Visible Tattoos. Australian Journal of Dermatology, Volume 36, pp. 75-79.

Bourdieu, P., 1984. Distinction: A social Critique of the jugdement of Taste. Cambridge: s.n.

Bradley, H., 2013. Gender. 2nd ed. Bristol: Keyconcepts.

Brown, N. & Gershon, S. A., 2017. Body Politics. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 07 April, Volume 5, pp. 1-3.

Brumberg, J. J., 1988. Fasting girls: The history of anorexia nervosa. New York: Vintage Books.

Caplan, J., 2000. Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History. London: s.n.

De Grazia, V., 1992. How Fascism Ruled Women: Italy, 1922-1945. California: Berkeley.

Foucalt, M., 1977. "The Eye of Power." In Power/Knowledge. New York: Pantheon.

Gilman, S., 1999. Making the Body Beautiful: A cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery. New Jersey: s.n.

Hau, M., 2003. The Cult of Health and Beauty in Germany. In: A Social History. Chicago: s.n., pp. 1890-1930.

Lorenz, R., 2012. A Freak theory. Biefield: verlag.

Mason, K., 2013. Social stratification and the Body: Gender, Race and Class. Sociology Compass, 7(8).

McLaren, L. & Kuh, D., 2004. Women's body dissatisfaction,social class, and social mobility. Social Science and Medicine, Volume 58, pp. 1574-1584.

Ross, D. M., 1985. A tattoo Removal Programme in Victoria. The Medical Journal of Australia, 142(7), pp. 388-9.

Stewart, L. M., 2001. For health and for Beauty: Physical Culture for Frenchwomen, 1880s-1930s. Baltimore: s.n.