Sociology of the Body and Freewill - Essay Example

Module Sociology of the Body and Freewill People inherit physical appearance at birth, and it depends on the genetic makeup of one’s parents. The environment is another contributing factor to a person’s appearance with aspects like diet and weather conditions among others determining how an individual grows and takes shape. These changes are natural and occur without conscious help from the individual involved. However, many people are unhappy with the natural look of their bodies; they want to change their bodies to become what they believe is the ideal body. The ideal body is an image fed into people’s minds by many factors in the society including religion and culture. Sociologists know the phenomenon whereby things that occur naturally take a social turn as socialization of nature (Shilling 765; Turner 104). There are many methods of body modification, ranging from subtle ones to extreme ones, all for the simple reason that one can do it. However, people who modify their bodies cite different reasons including spiritual, cultural, aesthetic, religious, medical and social reasons. Body modification involves common activities like reducing or gaining weight, surgery, genetic modification, piercings, and altering facial features using colors among others. The general perception is that people attempt to change their bodies to suit what they perceive to be the ideal body. However, since psychosocial factors influence the desire for body change, a person may not know when to stop because though the body is changing physically, they may not notice, and some of the attempts to change bodies have had tragic ends (Crossley 20). Statement of the Problem: People are born with particular physical characteristics, but it is largely in their control how they experience, use, interpret, deploy and present their bodies. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Most people are not comfortable with their bodies as they would want to become slimmer, more muscular, taller, lighter, and any other characteristic their social life has taught them as desirable. For instance, the fashion world would want women to believe that the true definition of beauty is a sickly thin body, with long hair among other tricks they use to sell their products. To maintain this body size people go to the extremes and even end up risking their lives. Many factors limit the freedom to change one’s body as wished, which is favorable because several body modification methods like plastic surgery, if not done well, are extremely dangerous. The ability to alter one’s body brings in ethical questions, especially since one does not usually know the psychological effect of body change, or since some individuals undergo these procedures without carefully thinking about them (Gimlin 711). Spiritual Reasons: Traditional religions like the DreamTime of Australia promoted body piercing and branding as a sign of devotion to their gods. As a member of the religion then one had to perform these rituals; in any case, they did not have a choice since traditional elders initiated them into the religion as toddlers. Some of these religions have survived to date and are in the same category with the Opus Dei who practices mortification. Mortification includes, among other practices, wearing ornaments that cause continuous pain on the body for the wearer to suffer as Christ did. Examples of other religions that encourage devotees to modify their bodies include Buddhism, and Hinduism that promote body part contorting among devotees as part of their meditation rituals. Though one is free to change their body as they feel fit, society through religion forces its will on people, forcing them to alter the natural state of their bodies for reasons they do not fully understand (Varga 220). Aesthetic Reasons: This is the most widespread of all reasons for body modifications; looking around one sees plucked eyelashes, some unnatural hair, pierced ears, and painted real or artificial nails. That is the description of beauty, and nobody has it all as they all want to change to become elusive human beings. Though these changes are temporary, there is a multibillion-dollar industry for performing permanent body changes. This industry offers surgical solutions for those seeking physically attractive bodies, offering changes for all body parts. Cosmetic surgery not only helps the youth to acquire the bodies they dream of, but also works for the old who want to avoid or postpone the effects of aging like sagging skin and expanding waistlines. Another method of body modification for aesthetic reasons is physical exercise. This is the reason why many people laze around all day and later go to a gym to shed off the calories they have accumulated from junk food. However, why would people be uncomfortable in their bodies? People offer many reasons for this and one conclusion is clear, psychology. A dark colored woman believes that a lighter skin is superior; therefore, she goes ahead and uses bleaches on her skin. Pronounced facial features are a symbol of feminine beauty, explaining the reason behind the numerous products meant for this beautification. In today's society, an ideal body for a male is muscular while that of a female is skinny, which is why the former spend days in bodybuilding and women become anorexic. These methods do not work easily, or even fast enough, and those who cannot afford cosmetic surgery, other methods are available, sometimes with tragic results. The major culprit in this case is the media, which brainwashes people with unattainable standards of an ideal person (Crossley 43; Marvin 643). Health Reasons: The medical field has changed, and people want their children to have the physical characteristics with which they do not have. Scientists have devised techniques for editing a person’s genetic makeup before or just after conception. They developed this technology to prevent children from inheriting genetic disorders from parents. When it worked, they have started abusing it for selfish reasons. Ethical scientists say that if a person thinks they are too ugly to have a child, then the safest route would be not having children since this technology is fairly novel and could have unpredictable results (Witz 15). On the brighter side, surgery has helped people who would otherwise be stuck with undesirable physical deformities with which they were born. For instance, through no fault of theirs, some people are born with fistulas, hernias and as Siamese twins among other birth defects. Though these surgeries are risky with high chances of ending up in fatalities, at least they give individuals a chance to lead a normal life, though they have to take the risk first. Circumcision of males was initially a cultural practice; nowadays people undergo the cut for medical reasons since it reduces the chances of contracting HIV and other STDs. Social Reasons: Men are attracted to women with a certain body type, and the same case happens to women. These assumptions have caused people to go to the extreme to ensure they fit the said descriptions. However, since one party does not know what people of the opposite gender want and they tend to overdo it. Women resort to bulimia, which is binge eating followed by one of the many methods of purging food from one’s stomach like use of laxatives and diuretics or self-induced vomiting. Men, on the other hand, tend to overdo the bodybuilding exercises; usually using steroids to accelerate their rate of muscle build up. Evidence as to why the main cause of the desire to alter one’s body is psychological is because many women feel comfortable with their bodies during pregnancy, a period when they do not desire to be with any man. In addition, many people, after they have married, tend to neglect body maintenance and improvement since their intention of doing so was to attract a mate, a feat they have achieved in a marriage (Warren and Brewis 226). Other people believe that altering their bodies is a form of art whereby the body acts as a canvas. Piercing and tattooing is the main method of body modification as an art, ranging from basic tattoos and piercings to extreme and even bizarre acts. No one ever wants to admit it, but there usually are society motivated factors behind the desire to modify one’s body (Tulle 336). CONCLUSION Every person genetically inherits body physical features like height, skin and hair color from their parents. As is the common nature with people, most are not comfortable with these features, and there is a widespread desire to alter them. In some cases, cultural and religious practices require people to alter their bodies for many reasons. The assumption that after one is born they can alter their body freely is just an illusion. What happens is that society has taken things that happen naturally, and they have become part of it. People have been led to believe that the things they do because of enculturation by their society are freewill. The concept of freewill would be applicable in one situation, if lived alone and no one influences their actions and they do not affect anyone else. Works Cited Crossley, Nick. “Mapping Reflexive Body Techniques: On Body Modification and Maintenance.” Body Society 11.1 (2005): 1–35. Print. Crossley, Nick. “The Circuit Trainer’s Habitus: Reflexive Body Techniques and the Sociality of the Workout.” Body Society 10.1 (2004): 37–69. Print. Gimlin, D. “The Absent Body Project: Cosmetic Surgery as a Response to Bodily Dys-appearance.” Sociology 40.4 (2006): 699–716. Print. Marvin T. Prosono. “Fascism of the Skin: Symptoms of Alienation in the Body of Consumptive Capitalism.” Current Sociology 56.4 (2008): 635–656. Print. Shilling, C. “The Rise of the Body and the Development of Sociology.” Sociology, 39.4 (2005): 761–767. Print. Tulle, E. “Running to Run: Embodiment, Structure and Agency amongst Veteran Elite Runners.” Sociology, 41.2 (2007): 329–346. Print. Turner, B. “What is the Sociology of the Body?” Body Society 3.1 (1997): 103-7. Print. Varga, I. “The Body - The New Sacred? The Body in Hypermodernity.” Current Sociology March 2005, 53.2 (2005): 209–235. Print. Warren, S. & Brewis, J. “Matter over Mind? Examining the Experience of Pregnancy.” Sociology. 38.2 (2004): 219–236. Print. Witz, A. “Whose Body Matters? Feminist Sociology and the Corporeal Turn in Sociology and Feminism.” Body Society 6.1 (2000): 1-24. Print. Read More