Looking Deviant Flashcards
In terms of physical appearance, what do we judge people by?
The cultural ideal
Two types of perceptions in physical appearance
Positive perceptions, negative perceptions
A choice in appearance; associated with certain lifestyle groups
Voluntary appearance
Limited; no choice in appearance
Involuntary appearance
Limitation of perception in physical appearance
- Appearances change over time and differ by socio-historical context (where/when)
- Perceptions about voluntary appearance vary across cultures, over time, and between subgroups
The adoption of certain elements of another culture without regard for their history or meaning
Cultural appropriation
Objective side on what bodies tell us
Characteristics of the person
- Age, sex, socioeconomic status, family structure and functioning, academic performance, personality, psychopathology
Subjective side on what bodies tell us
Characteristics of society, relationships, and self
- Self and self-expression, identify formation, society, how people understand themselves, how people give meaning to their physical appearance
The Halo Effect
- Physical attractiveness stereotype
“What is beautiful, is good” - The habitual tendency to rate attractive individuals more favorably in their personality traits or characteristics than those who are less attractive
Smarter funnier, more honest, more self-control, more efficient?
Gendered Appearance Norms
Desirable trains and undesirable trains in both men and women
Ex: Men are desirable if they are muscular, fit, tall, have clear skin, etc.
Body image
Comprises one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to one’s physical appearance
Racial variation in body image
- North American beauty ideals celebrate white bodies
- Racial differences in adherence to North American beauty ideals
Body projects (Change in Appearance)
ways we adapt, change, or control our bodies
Camouflaging (Change in Appearance)
normative processes
Extending (Change in Appearance)
overcoming physical limitations
Adapting (Change in Appearance)
Removing or repairing
Redesigning (Change in Appearance)
Reconstruction
Two main body projects
- Body modification/Body art
- Body size/weight
Variation of acceptance in body modification
- 5,000 year old Iceman
- Early Christian era -> religious affiliation
- European colonization -> “primitives”
- 1950s -> working class masculinity and subcultures
Objectivity in body modification
- Risk: assumed to be “at risk”
- Abuse, troubled backgrounds, and risky behaviours?
- Alleged relationship: product of social control efforts - Motivation
- Aesthetic
- Pursuit of Identity
Social Identity
Individual identity
Subjectivity in body modification
- Identity is not a cause of body modification
- Physical body reflects the individual’s understanding of self & society
Interpretive theories: - Understandings of self through interaction
- Interactions determine the role of body modification in our lives
Goffman’s Dramaturgical Approach in body modification
Part of constructing out Front stage and Back stage selves
Impression management
Trying to manage the messages we send to specific audiences
Women and Tattoos
- Often stigmatized
- Construction of the gendered self
- Established femininity -> Increase sex appeal
- Resistant femininity -> contradict hegemonic ideals
- Negotiated femininity -> source of liberation, but concealable
Straightedge Tattoos
- Tattoos as ideological messages: Resistance to perceived hedonism and self-indulgence in our world
- Symbols of lifestyle declaration
- Symbols of pacification
- Symbols of indictment - Means of control over one’s body
- Intimate relationship with rebellion/protest
Scientific standards on body size/weight
- This is more likely to be used as an evaluative criteria for women
- Based on health risks (harm-based notion)
- BMI (Body Mass Index)
- Criticisms using the BMI?
The Canadian Experience
- Worldwide: 1.4 billion adults
- Canada:
- 62% of adult men
- 46% of adult women
- 23% of children - More people are overweight than underweight in Canada and the world
Childhood obesity as child abuse
Child abuse
1. not always ACTIVE harm
2. can be associated with neglect
3. State/legal interventions
4. Women: blamed
5. Child AND mother stigmatized
6.Socioeconomic restrictions?