3...2....1.. Pose

My example of a body practice is the infamous hand on the hips pose that girls do. I actually do this without second thought and have never questioned why, this is praxis not only for me but also for many women in today’s society. When girls put their hands on their hips they are actually “posing” in the sense that they are putting on a show for others to look at, this showcases the way in which today’s culture is other oriented. Women do not pose in this manner to please themselves it is to be pleasing to the population around them. The act of standing in this way does work in making a body that is intelligible in this culture or ideal and practical; it pushes your chest forward, your shoulders back, shows the most attractive part of your arm by showing the meaty part and making you look thinner, and draws attention to your hips and waist. Along with this most people accompany this pose by standing slightly sideways to make themselves look thinner and even more intelligible in today’s culture. This “pose” is used to make a girl who is already thin look even thinner exemplifying the idea of pursuit without terminus. Susan Bordo discusses how women use their body to empower themselves. I think this pose allows women to feel attractive but also powerful. The pose also draws people’s attention to their hips illustrating their role as having the ability to reproduce; wide hips are commonly associated with fertility. This pose is signifying the woman’s social position. So where did this body practice come from and how did it start? Probably from activities that signify femininity such as ballet, gymnastics, modeling, and cheer leading. In a sense this shows the docile nature of the body, how a woman will be subjected to societies ideal to appear graceful and feminine like a dancer in its everyday life.

.....Speaking of an other oriented society here are 15 ways (according to this bro bible site which is interesting in itself) that girls “try” to look hotter for others on facebook.

http://www.brobible.com/bronews/story/the-15-most-common-ways-girls-try-to-look-hotter-on-facebook

Staying "Minnesota Nice" in a Conversation.

I first heard the term "Minnesota Nice" when I came here to the University of Minnesota last year. I myself being from Wisconsin practice the same sorts of mannerisms that Minnesotans use in everyday life. When you really try to escape the hegemony to look at yourself with outside eyes, the little things become really apparent. This is when I noticed how my body really is a docile body even during conversation.

Take a look at this clip from the movie "Fargo." Even though the movie exaggerates the quirks of Minnesotans, these exaggerations prove useful in allowing those of us ingrained the in the culture to see how we talk and act. First, there the wave. This comes before any verbal greeting. Notice how the police officer and the man then keep a solid five or six feet between them. People in Minnesota, unless meeting for the first time, don't tend to shake hands, and they always keep their distance. Even when I shake hands with someone, we step in, and as soon as the hands release, the other person steps back a foot or so, and so do I. People keep their distance in an attempt at respecting the other person, and trying not to seem offensive or pushy. It is our Minnesotan way of having intelligible bodies and by assuming the other person doesn't want to get close. What's tricky is if we are really being polite or has it only become a social construction by our docile bodies?

But there is still more. Notice at the end of the clip how the men never say goodbye. They awkwardly turn around and mention the weather, and then leave. People never want to say, "I'm sorry, but I have to go," in the Midwest. We are always trapped in these long or awkward goodbyes because we never want to be rude. People here in the Midwest always work themselves into those double binds, where both people want to leave but both are afraid they will insult the person by saying they can't talk.

After watching "Fargo" and seeing myself as an cultural object, it became clear that I don't really do these things to be nice. When I was born in Wisconsin, I was always-already a polite Midwesterner, and I'm not really controlling my mannerisms in conversation. My position in culture does that for me.

How To Hug

One very interesting body practice that we are subjected to in our society in the manner in which we hug. This may seem odd but if you think about it, the way we expect to get a hug from a man is very different from a women. This is even more complicated when you factor in male-male, female-male and male-female hugging and how each of these interactions has their own societal rhetoric.

The two types of gendered hug are a social construction in our society which have be written in to our docile bodies. The standard “guy” hug that I think of starts with a handshake or low high five then the two men pull in a touch shoulders. This style of hug totally fits in the binary division of what it means to be a man in our society. They should not be overly emotional or show too much affection and there should always be some type a barrier between to men (God forbid they touch front to front). The standard girl hug is one of more emotion and can be read as such by an observation. If I (a male) where to hug one of my female friends the way I hug a male friend they would be very confused, and if it was an emotional situation they may even become upset. Thus, in this situation we have agency to not comply with the norm however if one does not their action could be misread by the other party. Most of the time we do not even think about this. We see someone and we subconsciously process his or her intelligible body and then act according. Obviously not everyone follows these “hugging guidelines” all of the time, but it is interesting to think about how little cognitive control you have in this action, and how cultural knowledge has created a habitus with hugging.

Hips Don't Lie

One body practice that I notice everyday is the way women swing their hips while walking, especially when walking past an attractive male. Women want to constantly be noticed by men. To a woman, it reassures her that she looks good and boosts her self-esteem. In the reading by Leppert, he states "Women watch themselves being looked at." Women pretend they are just going normally about the day, but they are really hoping to be "checked out" by males. Women have a type of male perspective; women try to imagine what would appeal to an onlooking male. Women then turn themselves into that visual in hopes of being the sexy sight each male notices.

The swinging of the hips can be been as 'soft porn' to males; it signifies being sexy and playful. Males begin to wonder or try to visualize what is under her jeans or under her skirt. I think it almost makes a woman feel accomplished when she know she is making males have to wonder and have to think about what they are seeing or could possibly be seeing. Culture has subjected women's bodies to be be sexy and constantly viewed by the male gender. Although most of the time I believe the action of swing the hips is a conscious thought by females, over time it can be unconscious: when a women sees an attractive male, she automatically swings she hips more to catch the onlookers attention.

In the attached article, James Donahue sits at a local Wal-Mart and observes the way men and women walk. I found this article interesting because he not only focuses on the way women carry themselves while walking, but men equally. He uses the term "sexual invitation" as a way that both genders walk to attract the opposite sex and allow them to 'take a peak.' I think this word fits perfectly; when a woman swings her hips, she wants men to look at her assets. Another interesting piece of this article is that not only is it younger women that swing their hips, but middle-aged, married women as well. Society (and culture) has socially constructed each women to act innocent yet swing her hips in a sexy manner to catch the attention of any onlooking male.

http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/galleryi/id28.html

To Cross or Not

A body practice from everyday life that I have observed especially with my brothers; is females crossing her legs, sitting upright, and males sitting with their legs spread and bodies in a sloched position, not everybody fits this criteria but for the most part a large majority of people follow it. It is a body practive and a cultural practice for females to sit with their legs crosses and in a "proper" position because it is what is expected in a way and personally being a girl what I find most comfortable. And as Susan Bordo states; "the body and the reproduction of femininity.", the body is one that is continualy absorbed and expressed. Crossing of legs or sitting with your legs spread and body sloched is something that will often times seperate men from women. I is a way to show your femininity or nom-femininity it is another practice of distinguishing yourself or trying to get closer to the intelligible body ideal.

Cellphones: Pursuit without a Terminus?

First off, I apologize for the lack of picture. Technology problems. But this blog is about cell phones so just take it out of your pocket, dig through your backpack, or just look on your desk and there you go. A cell phone.

Everyone having a cell phone is a relatively new phenomenon but in this day and age, cell phones are everywhere. People use them to email, text, tweet, photograph, game, research, facebook, and oh yeah… call.

My observation this week is how it has become a social norm to be constantly tied to your phone. A whole new set of social rules are still being laid out for what is considered “correct” and “socially acceptable” but I feel until society agrees on a set of rules, anything goes. Our obsession over comfortable communication argues us into an “other-oriented emotional economy” (although I’d use the term society instead of economy because economy is usually strictly about monetary distribution and financial dealings). We are constantly attempting to keep up with the mass of data thrown at us through emails, calls, and texts from our coworkers, friends, and family. If someone doesn’t reply in an hour or two, we get impatient. Just as we expect a friend to text back right away, people constantly check their phones to see if they need to do the same. It has become a body practice to whip out the cell phone and glance at it throughout the day, sometimes even unconsciously so. Culture has argued us into the need of a cell phone because “everyone has one” and uses it so thoroughly. Our cultural practices have expanded to include checking your phone in class, texting someone in an awkward situation, everyone putting phones on vibrate instead of off in movie theaters etc. And what I find so fascinating is that this whole phone culture has literally sprung up in the last 10 years and is continuing to grow and change. And just as we change and mold our phones to be better, faster, and more efficient, our phones mold our behaviors and social norms. Is the technology and cellphone age a pursuit without a terminus?

Paint

Women, through body practices, subject them to every trending fashion that culture says is now appropriate. Culture has so thoroughly ingrained the ideal of the intelligible body that hysteria takes over, and in case of this picture, you weep what you are so consumed by. This compulsion to stay in tune with culture drives so many that their personality suffers to the point that the body practices replace the person. The rhetorical discourse of this picture asks us to step back and look at how severe the practice of applying makeup has become. Women, literally, have to take off masks painted on the canvas of their faces. The docile body which willingly follows culture has driven us to, by insisting that to be apart of the institution, telling women they necessarily have to wear this mask. Although, women do put so much time and effort into applying makeup that it is a pursuit without terminus, in that the body practice of wearing makeup changes so often that it will never be good enough. Reading this photo I am at first struck by the subjects beautiful facial features. Her eyes project pain and even thoughts of how she came to be this way. Utterly consumed to the point that the only thing coming out of her mouth in the form of speech has to do with makeup. Coming out of her eyes are tears of frustration that the pursuit of makeup will never be perfect and no matter the amount of pain she goes through will her idea of an intelligible body come to fruition. She's even stressed out so entirely about her makeup that her brow is sweating paint too. Women, I must say I am not envious of the other oriented physcological economy pushed on you by our culture.