The Body in Everyday Life: Howson Chapter 1

this chapter examines the development of the self and the importance of physical experience and sensory experience AND the presentation of the SELF in everyday experiences where the body may breach social norms. Howson focuses on the work of Goffman and the work of others who have influenced Goffman.

EMBODIMENT: looks at the body as a crucial dimension of the self

• significance of the body as a lived aspect of human experience
• alerts us to the relationship between the objective EXTERIOR/INSTITUTIONAL body and the subjective SENSUAL/ANIMATED body. (Turner)
• German Philosophical distinction between KORPER (body as object) and LEIB (felt/experienced body)
• bodily integrity is essential to self identity
• the relationship of the self and society is mediated through work done visa vie the BODY in the physical environment
• AGENCY (body's role in responding to and creating social worlds)
• SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST
• ACTION (emergence of the self as embodied, constituted through the practical actions of the body upon the world in which it is situated)
• PHENOMENOLOGICAL :rejects the distinction between mind and body and places emphasis on the other senses in the constitution and presentation of self

AGENCY & EMBODIMENT

(Cooley)

• the self is presented and maintained in social encounters
• the FACE and EYES are important in western culture because it is generally visible and so we look to it to discover identity-
• it offers vital expressive information
• sight is the privileged sense
• SELF-IDEA (Cooley) emerges:
• in relation to how we imagine we appear to others and then …
• how we imagine others JUDGE our appearance, and third…
•  through "self-feeing" (produced by the imagination of these judgements).
• MIRROR metaphor. Since looking into a mirror is a communication between that image and how we imagine others see us (BODY DYSMORPHIA????) ---Quote on page 19

SOMATIC PERCEPTION

(George Herbert Mead)

• mind and body are ontologically connected and constitute a SOMATIC PERCEPTION of the world through which we are understood as objects ourselves
• self is a product of an ongoing, never-ending social process of interaction between self and others and within the self.
• two parts of the self:
• INSTINCTUAL/IMPULSIVE habits (I)
• self mediated by social learning (me)
• constant conversation between the two leads to an evolution of the self which begins in childhood and lasts throughout ones lifetime

To Cooley and Mead, the external appearance of the face and body are crucial to the development of self. Over a period of time we develop a sense of how others see us which influences the way that we see ourselves.

FELT IDENTITY & THE BODY
(Simmel)

• people are socially bound together through various encounters, sensual experiences and "glances" that are exchanged in everyday life
• GOFFMAN
• His approach takes all of this and discusses the ways in which people perform ROLES in certain SETTINGS. These PERFORMANCES are influenced by the AUDIENCE and other aspects of the setting and SCENE. 
• in this context people seek to maximize or minimize visual information depending on the impressions the seek to present in any ENCOUNTER. 
• the "self-feeling" and "self-image" people develop is related to both how effectively we present ourselves and whether encounters confirm or nullify our self-conception
• SELF and IDENTITY are actively negotiated in "interactional work" with others and grounded in "felt-identity".
• the body is central to felt identity 
• looked closely at RULES and RITUALS found in social encounters and the subtleties of facial expression, body language and other verbal and nonverbal "linguistic cues"

BODYWORK

• Depend on shared BODY IDIOM. (Techniques of the Body)
• future-bound non-verbal communication.
• physical gestures, positions and conduct that are recognizable as conventional aspects of everyday life
• handshakes
• smiles
• ways of walking, sitting, standing
• speech patterns
• forms of dress

BODY NORMS & STIGMA

• virtual social identity (normative)
• actual social identity
• act in relation to one another 
• physical appearance is very important because we use it to judge the efficacy of the role presented to us in social encounters
• example of the "radicalized body"-we have certain expectations about the ability and performance for example, of African American males (as athletes or otherwise-sexual performance and size of genitalia)

"ACTUAL SOCIAL IDENTITY" vs "VIRTUAL SOCIAL IDENTITY"

a discrepancy between the ASID (all the traits a person actually has) and VSID (all the traits we expect as a society to associate with a person of a given status and identity) creates QUESTIONS about the identity of that person in our minds. When these discrepancies create a negative evaluation of a person we call it a STIGMA.

• not all discrepancies are stigmas (positive evaluation = STATUS symbol)
• stigmas are attributes that are extremely DISCREDITING (social judgement)
• evaluation can not be removed from the SOCIAL CONTEXT
• These can be apparent (discredited) or hidden (discreditable)

• normative bodies versus deviant bodies
• biophysical norms
• age/sex-linked norms based on "scientific medicine"
• supported by consumer culture
• bodily betrayals
• may create a gap or discrepancy between virtual and actual SID in ways that may stigmatize the individual
• carry MORAL CONNOTATIONS
• gain marginal social status and are excluded from full social acceptance
• STIGMA
•  3 TYPES OF STIGMA:
  1. ABOMINATIONS OF THE BODY
  • physical deformities
  2. BLEMISHES OF CHARACTER
  • mental disorder, criminality, addiction, homosexuality, unemployment, divorce
  3. TRIBAL STIGMA
  • race, some "religions", nationality, sex

  In each case, the individual has a mark which identifies them as discredited (other than expected) and INTERFERES WITH NORMAL SOCIAL DISCOURSE.
  
  Those without a mark are called  "NORMALS" (negative definition)
  
  
• All societies will develop somatic norms although none are inherently abnormal
• subject to historical change
• BIOPHYSICAL ABNORMALITIES

• Visibility
• the degree to which a stigma is visible determines the options for "PASSING"
• OBTRUSIVENESS: how a stigma interferes with a social interaction
• KNOWN-ABOUT-NESS:how much the stigma is common knowledge or the social group is aware of it (previous knowledge)
• PERCEIVED FOCUS: the behavioral expectations , social disqualifications and the like which we perceive to be associated with the particular stigma and its duration
• DECODING CAPACITY OF THE AUDIENCE: (determines visibility)
• impression management
• information management
• Challenging Biophysical Norms
• impairment
• disability-registers the repercussions of impairment which are always mediated by society, and determine the degree to which a person with an impairment can successfully navigate the social and physical environment

FOUCOULT

disability is an ongoing process of negotiation and interaction with others, which emphasizes how persona experiences of disability and what it means to be designated "disabled" may differ according to  gender and other sources of social identity

COMMUNICATIVE BODY & FACE WORK
emotions are expressions of relationships between people rather than expressions of inner feelings.

• emotions involve sensations that involve physiology, social practice and culture
• they do not simply express emotion, but they embody it. it is a technique that signals the potential for a certain kind of relationship----friendship and a smile for example
• masks and masquerade
• make-up
• part of body labor along with other "appearance related practices"
• Face Work and Sensations (Hochschild)
• emotions are viewed as biological responses that are universal and instinctive, but emotions are not always expressed in a straight forward way, illustrating that they are shaped by culture and social interaction.
• sensations OCCUR within the body, but they have to be ACKNOWLEDGED and INTERPRETED in order to have meaning as feelings.
• can do this because we have shared cultural vocabulary of emotion, or a repertoire of "emotional language" (Harre'). This prompts us to label a sensation and act it out appropriately
• emotions therefore are emergent properties of interactions between the body, its environment and social relations (the context determines the how the emotion will be labeled as a feeling)
• Face work and emotional labor (Hochschild)
• FEELING RULES: reflect norms about what we should feel in a given situation.
• govern the sort of emotions we are supposed to display and how to display them
• "lexicon of feeling" (similar to the examples she gives in her study of flight attendants)
• TECHNIQUES OF INTERPERSONAL EXCHANGE: such as smiles, tears, trembling or touch are such techniques through which feeling rules are expressed
• Face work as techniques of Interpersonal exchange
• Involve two forms of "acting"
• SURFACE ACTING
• changing our extern appearance or adopting a strategy of pretense in order to give the impression of a particular feeling (even if we are not actually feeling this- in order to give the impression that we are.)
• may be required to do this in certain social situations and professional settings as dictated by the rules of social interaction
• poker face or forced smile as examples
• may make one feel insecure or inauthentic-may also lead to the inability to read emotions properly in others if it is not drawn into congruence with deep acting.
• often forced when people are in a subordinate social status (required)
• DEEP ACTING
• working on the feeling in order to alter it or exchange it for another feeling
• change anger to compassion
• found in meditation techniques and are often used as body exercises (feel warmth at the center of your chest to evoke this emotion, i.e.)
• with experience in face work, one establishes CONGRUENCE between deep and surface acting to reduce stress
• Face work and Occupations
• women are generally charged with managing their feelings and the feelings of others in our culture.Because of this they generally enter occupations where emotional management is required
• nursing
• flight attendants
• child care
• beauty salons
• emotionality and expressiveness are associated with the female body= face work of this kind is seen as a natural aspect of femininity
• EMOTIONAL LABOR stroll takes skill

SOMATIC WORK
(Vanni)

-how it feels to be and have a body-to hear, see, feel, taste and move through everyday life. 

• intersection of ACTION & CONDITION. (act of smelling and an order, for example)
• requires somatic rules for norms that are negotiated (like body work and face work) and enforced via cultural discourses on health and cleanliness (care for the body) and vary according to context.
• ex. The interpersonal work that we do in public bathrooms
• practice "tactful blindness" (give dispensation for bodily betrayals)
• poo poourii
• somatic work here is to manage our own conditions of odor and our habitual attitudes to the odors of others
• this is an INTIMATE ASPECT OF BODY & FACE WORK that requires interpretation and moral evaluation
• example: teaching yoga/touching bodies
• example: smelling at the gym

Corporeal Management and the Limits of Social Interactionism

enactment of body gesture and facial expression reinforces cultural ideas about appropriate conduct for a given situation, but we need to know what this body, face and somatic work "MEAN" in order for it to function. WHERE DO THE MEANINGS COME FROM?

• does the body actually generate meanings through the range of gestures and expressions that we deploy?
• or…is the body a kind of tabula rasa on which we ascribe meaning and significance?

PHENOMENOLOGY OF EMBODIMENT

If for Goffman the body serves to mediate between the self and other (in social interaction), for phenomenologists like Merleau-Ponty the body provides an ontological basis (foundation) for the self. (It mediates the SELF)

BEING IN THE WORLFD: The "Lived Body"

(Merlaeu-Ponty)

• perception is not primarily a visual and does not see us as spectators on the world, looking out onto it from a self-enclosed entity
• analysis BEGINS from the body-the body is central to the perception of self
• the body is not a special kind of physical object separate form the mind, that can be comprehended only through rational thought.
• the body is the BASIS OF BEING IN THE WORLD-embodiment proceeds and grounds reflective thought.
• we can move and act ONLY through and with our bodies (we cannot observe them directly)
• there is NO philosophical division between mind and body-perception of the world begins with the body
• EMBODIED PERCEPTION
• the social is embodied and the body is social
• the body and senses associated with embodiment provide an OPENING OUT onto the world- through this we develop a sense of self and comprehend the world via PHYSICAL ACTION
• we learn to ride a bike or drive a car by developing a feel for it based on EXPERIENCE and PRACTICE. 
• perception itself is ACTIVE, based on habits and conduct 
• we develop a sense of self via actions toward others and to the environments in which we are situated
• INTER-CORPOREALITY
• we are our bodies and we engage in the world with others through them. 
• "self" changes as the body changes
• pregnancy
• puberty
• aging
• weight loss
• organ transplantation
• plastic surgery
• in extreme situations of bodily change, the unity between mind and body images is disrupted and a person will focus on bodily sensations and experiences (Leder)
• limits to phenomenology
• not clear how symbols inform the phenomenological perspective (what is the role of society and culture here?)
• what about power relationships in society?

CULTURE AND THE HUMAN BODY

• Durkheim
• Turner
• Douglas
• Levi-Strauss