In Marcel Mauss’ article, “Techniques of the body” he examines the historical construction of
the body by examining techniques of the body contingent upon the time period
and geography, which includes swimming, and walking. Through his approach he became aware that ‘habits’
such as walking and swimming “do not just vary with individuals and their
imitations, they vary especially between societies, educations, proprieties and
fashions, prestiges” (pg. 73). After Mauss identifies techniques of the body,
‘habits’, he states that to be able to have a clear understanding of all these
habits, running, swimming, etc., one has to consider the three areas, which are
known as social science, natural science, and humanities. He later writes about
the classifications of techniques of the body, which include the sexual
division of techniques of the body, the variation of techniques with age, the
classification of techniques according to efficiency, and how techniques are
transmitted.
After
reading this article I spent a lot of time thinking about the moving body with
respect to moving objects within the two sexes:
“Take the way of closing fist. A man thumb inside; perhaps because she
has not taught to do it, but I am sure that if she were taught, it would prove
difficult. Her punching, her delivery of a punch, are weak. And everyone knows
that a woman’s throwing, of a stone for example, is not just weak, but always
different from that of a man: in a vertical instead of a horizontal plane” (pg.
77).
The reason why I spent much time thinking about this is
because till this day much of the observations and differences between the body
and gender still exist. This says that not much has changed about the education
and teaching of certain habits.
The education and training of certain habits all depend on
the society and time period that is why I decided to focus on the gender norms
and the body in the United States.
From my knowledge the reason why
gender norms and the way the body is shaped in the United States has not changed
much is because of the hidden curriculum. I was first exposed to this
phenomenon when taking an introductory education class. “The hidden curriculum
refers to the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and
perspectives that students learn in school. While the “formal” curriculum
consists of courses, lessons, and learning activities students participate in,
as well as the knowledge and skills educators intentionally teach to students,
the hidden curriculum consists of the unspoken academic, cultural, and social
messages that are communicated to students while they are in school” (The
Glossary of Education Reform). In article, “Becoming
A Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools” Karin A. Martin states,
“Gendering of the body in childhood is the foundation on which further
gendering of the body occurs throughout the life course. The gendering of
children’s bodies makes gender differences feel and appear natural, which
allows for such bodily differences to emerge throughout the life course” (pg
495).
From Karin
A. Martin study’s observations she examined how everyday movements,
comportment, and use of physical space become gendered. Her findings show that
the hidden curriculum is what controls children’s bodily practices in order to
shape them cognitively serves another purpose as well. Furthermore, the
research also shows that practices are separated into gender differences:
“These data suggest that a sig-nificant part of disciplining the body
consists of gendering it, even in subtle, micro, every-day ways that make
gender appear natural. It is in this sense that the preschool as an
insti-tution genders children's bodies” (Martin 510).
Overall, it is hectic to think that every day children are
being taught to act a certain way to “fit” in society. Besides the article on
the hidden curriculum I also found a collection of pictures that suggest the
way in which geography and society impacts the body, particularly in children. 
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