The Body as an Instrument of Social and Historical Change

In “Techniques of the Body” Marcel Mauss makes the connection between our bodies and the environments in which they act. Everything we do, from the way we stand to how we walk to even how we eat and reproduce, our behaviors are shaped by the societies in which we act. Beyond cultural influences shaping our behaviors, there are historical influences as well. As seen throughout all of the sources for today, there is a strong correlation between culture and history shaping the human body. We learn by trial and error, so it comes as no surprise that as humans evolve and adapt, so do the ways in which their bodies perform. What worked in the past is changed and manipulated to be more efficient in the future. 

I found reason to agree with most of what Mauss communicated, but some of his points did raise questions with me. I struggled to identify what this "rubric" he kept initially referencing was, and why he thought it to be so abysmal. Is it a way of classifying certain "social phenomena" as he calls it? Or is is a way to ease the transition from concrete to abstract? My guess is that it was a way of classifying items of social life at his time that he was displeased with due to so many relationships and phenomena falling into the category of "miscellaneous". Perhaps he would find more agreement with our modern rubric, as we have learned how to classify the formerly unclassified and miscellaneous. 

One interesting point Mauss made was that of posture and gait and how they differ amongst cultures and generations. When he cited an example of the Maori women and their specialized form of walking called onioni, it reminded me of how my own mother was always scolding me to "stand up straight!" throughout my childhood, and even now in adulthood. Although my mother was trying to instill in me proper posture according to Western Civilization- shoulders back, chin up, back straight, her delivery of this message was eerily similar to how the Maori mothers scolded their daughters. This goes to show that the message might be different, but when it comes to upholding cultural norms, the delivery can be the same. His commentary about how even the shoes of a culture or gender affect their walk was also interesting to me. As a woman with a fondness for heels, I can attest to how one to many pairs of overly pointed pumps has molded my feet and even how I walk. After turning in my heels for more practical shoes when coming to college, I initially found myself struggling to adapt to flat-footed life. I was so used to the feeling of elevated heels that I had trained my feet and body to know this as the norm. 

Examples of social change affecting bodies can be seen in nearly every facet of our modern lives. In the video for today, a clear picture was painted in how bodily norms and ideal body types have changed for both men and women throughout the years.  Long gone are the times when pin up beauties like Marilyn Monroe are how society defined beauty. Now teen girls strive to emulate the gauntly skeletons they see walking the runways. We live in a society were the "thigh gap" obsession is sweeping our schools, universities, fashion magazines, and countless other avenues. Depicted in an article by ABCNews (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/03/25/thigh-gap-new-teen-body-obsession/), the "thigh gap" is when a woman's legs are so skinny that their legs fail to come together, leaving  a considerable gap. A couple months ago, major retailer Target came under fire for photoshopping a thigh gap into one of its models. The job was a poor one and it was clear that the photoshopped image was the farthest thing from the model's actual body type, and instead an effort by Target to buy into the "thigh gap" hype.

Below is the image as it appeared in print ads and on Target's website:

According to many fashion designers and forms of media, the above is the new definition of "healthy" for women. It would seem that in this instance, our society failed to learn from the past, and instead actually depreciated the value of a woman's health instead of creating an environment in which a woman who exceeds a size 8 is more than likely considered obese. There is also a cultural aspect to the average body types of today. In America there is the obsession with the "thigh gap," but in some countries teen girls are concerned with less vain things, they would indeed be happy to have enough to eat to have their thighs touch. 

How is it that we are a country so obsessed with skinny, yet so plagued by obesity? I think the answer for this is the unrealistic standards created by media and the overwhelming pressure to fit in. If a man can't resemble one of the shirtless men from "Twilight" why even try? If a woman can't fit into a Banana Republic size two she is left to turn to crash dieting until she can. These ideals are engrained in our heads from the time we first hear taunts of "fat" and "ugly" on the elementary school playground. In the same way that the Maori women engrain a certain posture in their daughters, we engrain a need to be skinny (at all costs) in ours. It's a vicious cycle that we find ourselves in. Americans buy the magazines and the cookbooks and the gym memberships to get that perfect body, but in the meantime they find themselves distracted by the new Taco Bell breakfast menu and XXL sized movie theatre sodas. In more active societies, like those of many European countries, there is less focus placed on dieting fads and the like. Portions are smaller and healthier, people walk and bike more than Americans, and in general enjoy a higher quality of life promoted by country wide mandates for healthy living. Perhaps it is time that the U.S. reevaluate our priorities and make some big changes before it is too late. After all, it is said that we learn by trial and error- so perhaps future generations can create a world were photoshop loses its relevance.