"Body Work"

Paper Summary:

This paper shows how the author agues that women do not engage in body work (activities like exercise and plastic surgery) in order to conform to a paternalistic, and unrealistic view of beauty that is perpetrated by the popular media. Instead, Gimlin gives the empowering argument that women engage in body work in order to nurture a relationship between the body and self-identity.

From the Paper:

"In "Body Work", Gimlin examines a series of mini-ethnographies in her attempt to understand the complex relationships that American women have with their bodies and their self-identities. She examines four main sites, in collecting research for her book. Gimlin conducted in-depth research and extensive interviews at each location. Gimlin explores a beauty salon, an aerobics class, a plastic surgery clinic, and the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), a political and social organization designed to empower overweight women."

More papers on "Body Work":

• Research Paper # 68832 : "Body Dysmorphic Disorder"
• Essay # 137291 : "Analysis of Louise Halfe’s “Body Politics”"
• Research Paper # 51939 : "The Body as Material Subjectivity"

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