Body Matters Essays On The Sociology Of The Body

Focusing on the sociological embodiment of various "social actors", the authors consider the subsequent links with the constraints of daily life i.e. the male body, female therapists, body builders, marital and sexual counsellors, sex workers. They present recent or new research findings on aspects of the body, variants from what is conventionally seen as "natural" and consider and question aspects of self-image versus society's expectations. A number of developments in discussions of the body on such topics as feminist thought, the study of health and illness and cultural theory are presented as a series of essays which demonstrate the variety of interests mentioned.; The book is aimed at undergraduates/postgraduates students and lecturers in sociology, cultural studies, women's and gender studies.

Bodies in a social landscape, Sue Scott and David Morgan; "With My Body I Thee Worship", David Clark; dance and the culture of body, Joyce Sherlock; pumping iron, Alan Mansfield and Barbara McGinn; you too can have a body like mine - reflections on the male body and masculinities, David Morgan; selling the body, deeping the soul - sexuality, power, the theories and realities of prostitution, Susan M. Edwards; the inverted gaze, Ruth Waterhouse; purity and pollution - body management and the social place of infancy, Anne Murcott; afterward - constructing a research agenda, David Morgan and Sue Scott.