Sociology of the Body Lecture 1 PDF

1 The Civilizing Process  Pictured: “Metropolis” (1927)  It was a German movie  Many religious people deny it in favour, of creationism, but human beings ARE animals!!  We defecate, urinate, sweat, stink, shed, scratch, sneeze, cha...

1 The Civilizing Process  Pictured: “Metropolis” (1927)  It was a German movie  Many religious people deny it in favour, of creationism, but human beings ARE animals!!  We defecate, urinate, sweat, stink, shed, scratch, sneeze, chafe, lactate, bleed, ejaculate, belch, and fart... just like animals do.  One of the differences between us and other animals is that we hide, minimize, and control all these things that are considered shameful.  One definition of “civilized” and “civilization” is the control we exercise over our bodies.  We do this through the production of shame.  We socialize young people from birth onward to do the same thing.  Norbert Elias (1897 – 1990) was a Polish sociologist that lived to be 93  In 1939 he wrote The Civilizing Process in two volumes  Because World War 2 broke out in 1940 it was ignored.  It was republished in 1969 where the American Sociological Association dubbed it the 7th most important sociological work of 20th century.  He merged Sigmund Freud with Karl Marx and Max Weber and made a thesis. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ His Thesis:  Civilization is a matter of a gradual change in the habitus (mindset) of human beings toward shame and repugnance over several things (all of which have to do with the human body).  2  Violence and blood.  Sexual activity and nudity.  Death and dying.  Body functions and disease.  Forms of speech.  Once we act toward these things with shame and repugnance, and control the appearance of them, we regard ourselves as “civilized.”  If we show no shame or repugnance, we are not civilized.  Civilization according to Elias is thus defined as the production of shame and repugnance toward things associated with our bodies.  This is not simply an act.  We really are ashamed of these things and are repulsed by seeing them in others.  While shame and repugnance gradually increased over 1000s of years, Elias says that they began to increase rapidly only since the Middle Ages.  Our bodies have come under ever increasing social and self-control. 1. Violence and Blood  In the Middle Ages, the sight of blood and people bleeding badly was a good thing because it meant that one won a fight.  It was also good if you got someone else’s blood on you because it meant that you were successful in subduing that person and it gave you a sense of victory and power.  Today, the sight of blood (even though it is a beautiful red colour) is enough to make some people faint.  Blood is now a horrible sight which makes us turn away and it is regarded as a contaminant filled with evil disease, and danger.  3  Blood is now considered a contaminant filled with viruses and disease carriers and to have someone’s blood upon you is unsettling.  A bleeding person is not socially acceptable and is expected to immediately stop the flow of blood and block it off from the social world with Kleenex, disinfectants, and Band-Aids until the blood coagulates and a scab forms.  Anything that touched blood must also be disposed of in a special way (e.g., down the toilet). 1. There are even stronger rules for menstrual blood: 2. It must never show through one’s clothes and be caught with sanitary napkins. 3. It must also never be mentioned unless necessary and only in euphemism (period, time of the month). Video on Violence: William Wallace  It's the story of William Wallace, and this is in the late 1300s, and he united Scotland, against the British.  Now, blood has gone from something very positive that you like seeing, right down to something very terrible that you do not like seeing.  A bleeding person was something you wanted to see because it made you subdue them.  In other fact, menstrual blood would even be worse, that would be a complete taboo for any woman to show menstrual blood.  Menstrual blood was highly regulated among the ancient Hebrews as indicated in Leviticus 15:19 (KJV: OT) which says :  “And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until even.”  If you touched her, and even if you touched something that she touched, like she sat in a chair, and then you touched the chair, you are unclean until evening.  The Ancient Hebrews were also squeamish about men who ejaculate according to an earlier passage from Leviticus saying that anyone who touches such a man shall also be unclean.  4  We are still squeamish and about menstruation as indicated by television commercials that show the blood in blue instead of red.  Blood is now part of our identities in at least two respects: 1. It identifies us medically. 2. It identifies us personally with DNA testing.  In these respects, it marks us with any deviant activity such as the committing of crimes, the taking illegal drugs, or even having diseases.  Uncontained blood is thus always suspected as a threat to the safety of others and must always be managed.  Skin therefore acts as a border between public and private and, if it is breached, it must be plugged up.  Today we civilize each new generation by telling them that hitting someone is bad and that “violence never solves anything” (is this really true?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  “Turn the other cheek.” (Matthew 5:29, KJV, NT)  “Ignore them.”  “It takes a bigger man to walk away from a fight.”  “Don’t stoop down to their level.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  We punish children for fighting even if they were only defending themselves.  Even war has become increasingly civilized.  We no long hack off each other’s limbs with swords and axes.  We sit in comfortable chairs in Nevada and press buttons, letting drones do all the work.  5  Over the past 100 years, fighting transformed from a way of settling disputes to an art form and a sport, bringing in the Marquess of Queensbury Rules such as the wearing of boxing gloves and 3-minute rounds.  Boxers now wear protective helmets and mouth guards as well.  If there is any sign of significant blood, the fight is stopped.  Thus, we box with protective gear, we do fencing without running the opponent through.  We shoot guns only at inanimate objects.  We also no longer have the right to seek justice or revenge when people have wronged us.  If someone murders a member of your family, the state takes over and punishes the murderer for you.  We pay taxes to have a criminal code enforced and a prison system operated.  At the same time our desire for blood and violence still exists but it has been largely channeled into the virtual worlds of video games and movies.  We love to see Jean-Claude van Damme or Jason Stathem take out four guys with his fists, Rambo kill the bad guys with a bow and arrow, and movies like Fight Club (1999) are very popular.  Slasher films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, 2003) are also very popular.  We also like to play video games where we kill the bad guys in the most gruesome ways.  60% of Americans believe that the brutal torture methods used on suspected terrorists after 9-11 were justified.  The United States also supports its gun culture despite the high death rate and most Americans also support capital punishment. Is American gun culture a sign of missing violence in one’s life?  Pink Guns!  6 Main Points: Blood and Violence 1. Through the civilizing process, blood and violence transformed from good things to subjects of increasing shame and repugnance. 2. Blood is now repugnant and we are expected to control it.  If we do not (e.g., leaving a bloody Band-Aid on the bathroom sink), we should be ashamed. 3. Real-life violence of any kind has been removed from society and virtually all of it is illegal.  We therefore look to the state to fulfill our need for violence. 4. There are however still a few virtual (e.g., movies) and vicarious (e.g., torture, boxing, capital punishment) outlets for violence. 5. Even so, anything more than a casual attention to them is usually shameful. 2. Death and Dying  Death had always been a reality of life and it was seen frequently in the middle ages since babies would often die before their 1st birthday and people in general would live much shorter lives.  Rather than having funeral parlors, it was up to each family to prepare its members after death and bury or burn them.  Through the civilizing process, dead people have become more and more repugnant, and rituals and customs developed to minimize the appearance that they are dead.  We also do everything we can to prolong life including outlawing euthanasia.  7  A lot of us cremate bodies now but they are not laid out as they were in the past.  Today, dead bodies are so repugnant that they are whisked away immediately after death and kept in places that the public does not see.  When they are seen, they are dressed and made up to look as alive as possible  as if they are merely sleeping peacefully.  They are viewed in “slumber rooms” and buried in cemeteries with names like “Sunny Acres” and “Eternal Gardens.”  Today the social ritual surrounding death and dying is extensive and designed to minimize the appearance of both.  Our social duties toward people who have lost others through death is meaningless ritual that is done as a matter of fulfillment of a social obligation more than out of true empathy.  Here are recommendations from Hallmark’s website of what to write on sympathy cards: With sympathy, With deepest sympathy, With heartfelt sympathy, with prayers and sympathy, With sincere sympathy, With warm thoughts and prayers, With caring, With love at this sad time, In caring sympathy, With you in sorrow, Sharing your sadness, Thinking of you, Caring thoughts are with you, God bless, God bless you and comfort you, Keeping you in our prayers, Lifting you up in prayer, Praying for you, Yours in peace, Wishing you healing, My heart goes out to you, Your loss is our loss. Etiquette Advice from Dr. Aveline  If someone you know dies, here is what you should do! 1. DO NOT go out and buy a depressing pre-printed Hallmark card with someone else’s thoughts on it.  Instead, buy some elegant and conservative (no bold colours or balloons) stationery with a matching envelope. Use a real stamp and not an electronic one. 2. Write three paragraphs:  8 i. You were saddened to find out that Elmer passed away. ii. A fond memory you have of how Elmer influenced or moved you. iii. How you feel a sense of loss in your own way because Elmer is no longer with us (do not overstate – it is not a competition.  “I will miss him greatly” is enough).  Speak of yourself only.  Do not say “we will all never be the same without him.”  At the same time, do not make the letter about you!! 3. Avoid stupid cliches:  (“Our thoughts are with you” or “He is with Jesus now” “He is no longer in pain”).  DO NOT GIVE ADVICE (“You must move on” or “you will have another child”).  DO NOT write anything else – “my philosophy of death” “Bible quotes.”  Avoid all Hallmark sign offs from previous page.  Even being associated with a dead person is stigmatized and it makes people feel uncomfortable to be in their presence.  The widow’s veil is worn so that others will not see the sadness on a woman’s face.  Any display of emotion at a funeral is discouraged.  To be civilized is therefore of show or feign a socially acceptable degree of sadness.  For example, widows must wait a year before remarrying.  Our behaviour and our emotions at such times are thus highly regulated and driven by ritual which avoids any meaningful contact with each other and is designed to avoid emotion rather than provide an outlet for it.  Any meaningful outlets of sorrow are to be experienced in private for the sake of other people. This is civilized. 3. Sex and Nudity  9  In the Middle Ages, it was common to see two people having sex.  Peasants would live as families in houses with a central fireplace.  In the winter, everyone would sleep in a pile near the fireplace.  It would be common to have sex with one’s wife, husband or otherwise no matter who was present.  While lovers preferred private places this was probably more to avoid interference or interruption than out of modesty.  Nudity was also common at village baths.  Young children especially might run around naked in the summer since clothing them would be impractical.  With the civilizing process, sex became a subject of increasing shame where it should not only be done in private but not discussed or talked about.  Today, there seems to be a conspiracy of silence in that absolutely no one has sex.  It is not only not talked about and not seen but even to mention it seems to be a measure of lack of class or consideration for others. Medieval Bathhouses: 4. Body Fluids and Functions  People of the Middle Ages paid little attention to their body functions and the effect they might have on others.  The fact that people defecate, urinate, run at the nose, fart, sneeze, or smell of sweat and dirt was simply part of nature.  10  Also, among peasant farmers who most likely had never seen mirrors, grooming the face, hair, clothing or the body was rare except for perhaps a quick wash or the occasional public bath.  People might go months without bathing and were thus, identifiable by smell.  Civilization, or the civilizing of human beings, was characterized by the increasing control upon body fluids and activities.  One of the first etiquette books, De Civilitate Morum Puerilium, was written specifically for boys by Erasmus of Rotterdam (1456 – 1536).  He gave advice about the care of the nostrils, mouth, and penis, and advised against wearing blush on the cheeks because natural modesty should give the cheeks a glow.  He did however draw the line at farting, believing it was more dangerous to hold it in.  Eventually, it became essential for any well-bred person to carry around a handkerchief whose sole purpose was to control the outflow of body fluids.  Today, we are expected to control All of our body fluids, solids, and gases either by grooming ourselves before we go in public or with products such as Kleenex, sanitary napkins, bandages, or otherwise.  We also go in private places called “rest rooms” or “wash rooms” to urinate and defecate.  Any leakage of fluid, any sound of bodily function, or any odour of the body is the subject of shame where people are thought to be unsocialized and uncivilized.  A tremendous amount of time in child rearing is taken up in training children to control their fluids, solids, and gases and instilling shame in them if they do not.  Virtually all modern and traditional table manners pertain to minimizing the functions of the body while eating.  Chew with your mouth closed.  Eating with utensils, and the right ones.  11  The proper way to squeeze lemon wedges.  Napkins on laps.  Regulation of food intake.  Cutting meat and not biting it.  Not spitting out food.  Proper dinner conversation.  “A woman should never say the food was delicious to a hostess of a dinner party; she can only say that she enjoyed herself.”  Because women should not have appetites for anything.  Gertrude Pringle, Etiquette in Canada (1937).  Everyday, a tremendous amount of fluids, solids, and gases come out of or off of our bodies. Civilization requires that all of them must be strictly controlled (Pink = Women, Blue = Men) Fluids Solids Gases Urine Feces Farts Menstrual Blood Hair Body Odour Vaginal Fluid Dandruff Breath Pre-ejaculatory Fluid Skin Flakes Semen Snot Sweat Scabs Tears Worms Puss Plaque Saliva Dirt  12 Vomit Grease Mucus Food Particles Milk Lice Diarrhea Ear Wax Embryonic Fluid Bacteria  There is also a multi-billion-dollar industry whose central purpose is to manufacture products for the control of body fluids, solids, and gases.  Peasant women of the Middle Ages attended to their menstruation with scrap rags (hence the term “on the rag”) or bog moss if available  Leakage was often masked by the popularity of red dresses.  Many women and men did not associate a period with reproduction and thought it was because a woman’s body needed to relieve pressure and heat.  Periods were also not that regular.  One popular remedy for intense menstruation was to burn a toad and spread the ashes around one’s vagina.  By Victorian times it was considered an illness, and a woman of breeding was expected to faint and go to bed for four days.  Slave women and servants did not have this luxury. 5. Forms of Speech  Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984) points out that we have developed a way of talking about sex by not talking about it at all. Sex talk is usually carried out with euphemisms such as “making love,” “marital activity,” etc.  The same might be said for bodily functions where we “go to the bathroom,” “pass gas,” and have “that time of the month.”  “Polite” conversations make no direct reference to any body functions or products.  13  Other polite conversation is all about false concern for the health of others (“How do you do”?)  A mark of the civilized thus became a knowledge of proper forms of speech such as addressing others properly, asking about one’s health, and talking about the weather.  When young people are trained in manners, they are trained ways of speaking that feign such concern for others.  Sociologist George Ritzer, in his The McDonaldization of Society (1993) points out that multinational corporations such as McDonalds, Delta Airlines, etc. treat customers with scripted fake friendliness (“Have a nice day”) much like the rituals of social interaction.  Many forms of speech are therefore scripted, ritualized, and about the veiling of meaning.