Journeys of Embodiment at the Intersection of Body and Culture

The Developmental Theory of Embodiment

Niva Piran

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780128054109
• eBook ISBN: 9780128094211
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Clinical Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Journeys of Embodiment at the Intersection of Body and Culture: The Developmental Theory of Embodiment describes an innovative developmental and feminist theory—understanding embodiment—to provide a new perspective on the interactions between the social environment of girls and young women of different social locations and their embodied experience of engagement with the world around them. The book proposes that the multitude of social experiences described by girls and women shape their body experiences via three core pathways: experiences in the physical domain, experiences in the mental domain and experiences related directly to social power.The book is structured around each developmental stage in the body journey of girls and young women, as influenced by their experience of embodiment. The theory builds on the emergent constructs of 'embodiment' and 'body journey, ' and the key social experiences which shape embodiment throughout development and adolescence—from agency, functionality and passion during early childhood to restriction, shame and varied expressions of self-harm during and following puberty.By addressing not only adverse experiences at the intersection of gender, social class, ethnocultural grouping, resilience and facilitative social factors, the theory outlines constructive pathways toward transformation. It contends that both protective and risk factors are organized along these three pathways, with the positive and negative aspects conceptualized as Physical Freedom (vs. Corseting), Mental Freedom (vs. Corseting), and Social Power (vs. Disempowerment and Disconnection).- Examines the construct of embodiment and its theoretical development- Explores the social experiences that shape girls throughout development- Recognizes the importance of the body and sexuality- Includes narratives by girls and young women on how they inhabit their bodies- Invites scholars and health professionals to critically reflect on the body journeys of diverse girls and women- Addresses the advancement of feminist, social critical and psychological theory, as well as implications to practice—both therapy and health promotion

Chapter 1

The Developmental Theory of Embodiment

Discovering Paths in the Body Journeys of Girls and Women

Abstract

This chapter provides a description of the Developmental Theory of Embodiment. It begins with an explanation of the meaning and importance of studying embodiment and a description of a related research program. The second and third parts describe the theoretical results of the research, in particular: the Experience of Embodiment construct and the social factors that shape it according to the Developmental Theory of Embodiment. The chapter concludes with the stories of two young women, research participants, told by weaving the theoretical constructs into their body journeys.

Keywords

Body journey; Developmental Theory of Embodiment (DTE); Experience of Embodiment (EE); Mental Freedom; Physical Freedom; Social Power

This chapter provides a description of the Developmental Theory of Embodiment. It begins with an explanation of the meaning and importance of studying embodiment and a description of a related research program. The second and third parts describe the theoretical results of the research, in particular: the Experience of Embodiment construct and the social factors that shape it according to the Developmental Theory of Embodiment. The chapter concludes with the stories of two young women, research participants, told by weaving the theoretical constructs into their body journeys.

Why Study Embodiment?

I think of myself as a whole, the mind-body all integrated or something like that… I feel comfortable in my own skin letting go of what a girl should look like. [Jane]

I hate my body and I want my body to die, to disintegrate, I have to overcome my body. This body is an obstacle… Like I feel disconnection, like feeling separate from your body… When you are fully confident you are comfortable in your own skin. [Crystal]

Jane and Crystal, both in their early 20s and pursuing university education, participated in the Young Women study. Jane grew up in a working-class family from a rural area. She described her ethnic heritage as White West European and her sexual orientation as heterosexual. Likewise, Crystal came from a working-class background, grew up in a rural town, but moved as a teenager to an urban center. She also described herself as heterosexual. The experiences of these two participants are referred to repeatedly in the chapter, to ground the theoretical constructs in lived experiences.

The concept of embodiment owes its philosophical underpinnings to the French phenomenologist Merleau-Ponty (1962) and refers to the lived experience of engagement of the body in the world. According to Merleau-Ponty, mind and body are inseparable, and the body is not only the center of perception, but also of subjectivity: experiencing the world meaningfully. Further, dialogical relationships exist between body and culture, such that, through active engagement with the world, the body performs and enacts cultural norms and practices (Crossley, 1995); in turn, the body can alter cultural practices. The embodiment term therefore refers concurrently to the breadth of lived experiences as one engages with his/her body in the world, and to the shaping of these experiences by cultural forces.

Jane and Crystal describe in their narratives above two very different experiences of embodiment. While Jane describes body–mind integration and comfort, Crystal describes body–mind disconnection and negative feelings toward her body—a burdensome and hated site. The first question driving this inquiry related to seeking an understanding of the quality of girls and women’s body-anchored experiences as they engage in the world around them. Such an understanding is crucial not only to examining “peculiar feminine embodiment,” but also to delineating positive ways of engagement with the world and associated facilitative social conditions—hence guiding social transformations. Such a comprehensive goal requires the study of the lived experiences of girls and women across the life span.

Jane and Crystal’s experiences of embodiment denote different levels of well-being. Indeed, much research indicates close links between ways of inhabiting the body and well-being. We know, for example, that negative body image among adolescent girls predicts the development of eating disorders (Stice, Marti, & Durant, 2011), smoking (Neumark-Sztainer, Paxton, Hannan, Haines, & Story, 2006), depression (Stice et al., 2011), and negative self-esteem (Tiggemann, 2005) in longitudinal studies. Alexithymia, which assesses disruptions in identifying and communicating about internal states, is linked with substance abuse and eating disorders (Taylor, Bagby, & Parker, 1991). The silencing of feelings and needs, as well as the suppression of outward expressions of anger, is correlated with body dissatisfaction, bulimia, and drive for thinness (Piran & Cormier, 2005). Conversely, the assertive expression of one’s own views and opinions is associated positively with self-esteem (Oakley et al., 2013). A comprehensive understanding of the quality of embodied lives can therefore enrich concepts of well-being.

The second reason to study embodiment relates to the shaping of embodied experiences and practices by cultural forces. Critical and feminist theories emphasize that the body is a site of social control. Foucault (1979), in particular, described, “The body is directly involved in a political field; power relations have an immediate hold upon it; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks” (p. 25). Through the expectation of compliance with widely accepted societal discourses, Foucault contended, society produces compliant, also termed, “docile” bodies. In feminist theory, the discussion of body and power has been productive in explaining “feminine embodiment,” such as women moving in the public sphere while restricting the use of physical space (Bartky, 1988), or adhering to varied, potentially harmful, body alterations (Bordo, 1989). Thus, studying “female embodiment,” and the social mechanisms that produce “docile” feminine bodies, enriches feminist theory and comprises a key to feminist activism and social transformations (Bordo, 1988; Fahs, 2015; Piran, 2010).

Research Program

This book describes the results of a research program that included 171 interviews with girls and women on the topics of embodiment, and the social conditions that shape it. It is also bolstered by knowledge from 116 focus groups with school-aged girls and quantitative surveys with about 1500 women. All interviews and focus groups were conducted in sites across Canada, and included participants from diverse backgrounds, such as varied ethnocultural groups, as well as first- and second-generation immigrants from around the world.

The 171 interviews with girls and women took place in three studies. The 5-year prospective Girl Study included 87 interviews with 27 girls, aged 9–14 years during the first phase of the study, who were interviewed three to four times over a 5-year period. The Young Women Study involved 30 interviews with 11 women, aged 20–27 years. The Older Women Study included 54 interviews with 31 women, aged 50–68 years (see Appendix 1 for detailed participants’ descriptions in these three studies, and Piran, 2016a for an expanded description of research methodology).

Feminist, hermeneutic, and constructivist lenses informed all aspects of the inquiry, including the interviews. In line with the feminist lens, interviews emphasized participants’ expertise in reflecting about their lived experiences, diversity among participants, and the critical examination of the social context. While the Girl Study utilized a prospective methodology, the Young and Older Women Studies utilized a life history methodology to qualitative interviewing (Cole & Knowles, 2001). This approach aims to examine the intersection between individuals’ experiences and their social contexts, emphasizing points of transition throughout their life span. The program of research employed the constructivist grounded theory approach to data analysis, as this approach leads to the construction of a conceptual understanding of the phenomenon under study (Charmaz, 2006).

Experience of Embodiment

The first phase of the research program aimed to explore the key dimensions of embodiment among pre- and post-pubertal girls, as well as that of younger and older women. This analysis involved coding narratives where girls and women described their experiences in their bodies as they engaged with the world around them.

The core construct that emerged from this analysis, which we have labeled as the Experience of Embodiment (EE), provides a new perspective on ways girls and women inhabit their bodies across their life span. In particular, the EE construct addresses a breadth of experiences that, up until this point, have not been captured by other constructs. The broad range of experiences included in the EE is clustered into five related dimensions, reflected along a continuum from positive to negative:

• Body Connection and Comfort

• Agency and Functionality

• Experience and Expression of Desire

• Attuned Self-Care

• Inhabiting the Body as a Subjective Site, Resisting Objectification

Participants differed in their EE depending on the quality of their experiences in the five dimensions. We observed a tendency for the dimensions to align on either the positive or negative side of the continuum. Also, participants’ quality of EE changed over time in relation to their social environment. (Refer to Table 1.1 for a definition of the two poles of each dimension).

Importantly, the relationship between these different dimensions led to a new research-based definition of positive embodiment. Accordingly, the definition of Positive Embodiment is Positive Body Connection and Comfort, Embodied Agency and Passion, and Attuned Self-Care. Conversely, the definition of Negative Embodiment is Disrupted Body Connection and Discomfort, Restricted Agency and Passion, and Self-Neglect or Harm.

To contextualize these definitions, let us consider the five dimensions of the EE from Jane and Crystal’s unique perspectives and how they align along the positive to negative continuum.

Table 1.1

Dimensions of the Experience of Embodiment Construct

	Positive	Negative
Dimensions	Body Connection and Comfort	Disrupted Body Connection and Discomfort
	Agency and Functionality	Restricted Agency and Restraint
	Experience and Expression of Desire	Disrupted Connection to Desire
	Attuned Self-care	Disrupted Attunement, Self-harm, and Neglect
	Inhabiting the Body as a Subjective Site	Inhabiting the Body as an Objectified Site

Dimension 1: Body Connection and Comfort versus Body Disconnection and Discomfort

Jane exhibits Body Connection and Comfort. As reflected in the narrative below, in addition to describing having a positive connection with her body and finding comfort in inhabiting it, Jane also recounts engaging in self-talk that bolstered her acceptance of her natural body shape and her financial constraints in buying clothes—both barriers to embodying an idealized female image.

I think of myself as a whole, the mind body all integrated or something like that… I feel comfortable in my own skin and letting go, letting go of that, you know, prescribed notions of what a girl should look like. I cannot look like a six-foot-two, 125-pound woman. Okay, let’s pass that. Should I be more concerned about clothes? Well, I can’t afford those clothes… So there’s not much point in stressing over them.

In contrast, Crystal exhibits Body Disconnection and Discomfort. In addition to expressing a strong disconnection from her body and a wi...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Editorial Advisors
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. The Developmental Theory of Embodiment: Discovering Paths in the Body Journeys of Girls and Women
• Chapter 2. Qualified Freedom on Borrowed Territories: Early Childhood to Age Eight
• Chapter 3. Intense Transitions: Tweens (Ages 9–12)
• Chapter 4. The Practice of Corseting: Early Adolescence (Ages 13–14)
• Chapter 5. The “Perfection” of Corseting: Late Adolescence (Ages 15–17)
• Chapter 6. Re-capturing Qualified Freedom: Possibilities in Adult Women’s Journeys
• Chapter 7. Charting a Different Future: Embodied Possibilities
• Appendix 1. Demographic Summaries of Participants in the Three Interview Studies
• Index