‘The body has become part of a project to be worked at, a project increasingly linked to a person’s identity of self.’ (Entwistle, ‘The Influence of Foucault,’ 19) Discuss.
Pictures of the self- reinforced through language, imagery, embodied practices and mental habits- hold us captive in ways we are not even aware of. The challenge of thinking ourselves differently as embodied individuals demands that we make visible these pictures so that we can come to understand, if you will, that the door might open inwards. (Heyes, 2007: 20)
The physical body we live in-‘we’ being our innate selves, our souls- denies society the view beneath the skin. The only indication of our identity, as Heyes implies, is through the visual self. This is supported by Thesander’s (1997) assertion that “the most characteristic aspect of fashion is its ability to transform objects into symbols. Clothes are transformed into fashion garments and the body becomes the fashion body.” (67)
In this essay, I will discuss, using various readings, about how women’s bodies are moulded by society and how it shifts with the current ideals of beauty. I will also elaborate on how the body is used as a shell to depict what the inside holds, in other words, the identity of the being residing in it. I will use Michel Foucault’s theories to explain how the body is affected by the subjection of discipline and examination. Then, I will use the concept of cosmetic surgery to show how the body is an ongoing project to be worked on, and how its participants employ it as a tool to improve their image, thus their perception of self-identity.
The first part of this essay discusses how bodies existing within societies are obliged to conform to social expectations. While being a surface upon which the text of one’s identity is read, it is also obliged to live up to the archetype of beauty, therefore, it is a