Body Modification, feminism and postmodernism

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Body Modification, feminism and postmodernism

Body modification is a broad category that includes piercing tattooing, branding, cutting, binding and inserting implants. All of these involve altering the body on the outside in a way that has an immediate effect. However body modification can also be seen to include

“Gymnastics, bodybuilding, anorexia and fasting –forms in which the body surface is not directly inscribed and altered using instruments to cut, pierce and bind” Featherstone (1999)

These types of body modification alter the outside of the body through exercise and diet and are a much slower process.

This essay is going to look at the types of body modification in more detail and then at how feminism and postmodern theory can be used to explain this occurrence.

Body modification can be taken to mean anything that changes our body. If we look at pacemakers or spectacles they are both used to modify our bodies and both are an addition to our bodies. If we go even further we can look at modern films and TV programmes that show ‘super-humans’. This type of character usually has many modifications such as machines grafted onto their skins-so that they are cyborgs. Cyborgs such as Robocop are well known to the public and there is a fascination with the idea of man and machine becoming a joint entity, doing this would be yet another improvement to our own nature. Our culture shows the need for continuos improvement to our bodies. We are often either trying to improve our bodies to the point of perfection or we are trying to move away from our socialised culture. This can be seen with those who diet and body build trying to gain perfection, which has been defined by the mass media. Others are trying to reject the ‘norm’ and become more individual they do this by getting piercing or tattoos.

“I make a statement, I’ve chosen myself. I am part of a culture but I don’t believe in it. My body modifications are my way to say that.” Klesse (1999)

This statement is one that would be associated with types of body modification such as piercing and tattooing. But these types are no longer necessarily a statement of individuality in today’s youth culture. Most young adults now will either have a tattoo or a piercing or will know someone that does. These forms of individuality are now fashion statements that are seen as part of western culture. The mass media has made fashion a great influence on how our bodies should look. There are hundreds of different magazines that shout from the front page about how we are meant to look. The body type that women are meant to have according to these magazines is one of skinny, toned and tanned. This ideal for most women is impossible to achieve without dieting and exercise or bodybuilding. According to Bourdieu it is better to consider ‘a universe of class bodies’ rather than singular type of body form.  Featherstone (1999)

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Body modification can be looked at as a post-modern phenomenon. Tattooing has been around for many centuries we can see this from older cultures such as in the Middle East and Egypt. These tattoos were often compulsory as they showed an unambiguous meaning in these pre-literate societies (Turner, 1999). In early-industrialised Western societies tattoos were associated with working classes and criminal’s. If you had one you were more than likely going to belong to one of these groups. In post-modern society they are aesthetic enhancements of the body (Turner, 1999).

“However, the need to imitate the body ...

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