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Unpacking Sexual Embodiment and Embodied Resistance

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Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

The body and its relationship to the social world has provoked, fascinated, and perplexed social scientists, natural scientists, feminist theorists, and historians alike. This chapter examines the notion of embodiment, or how the body operates both as a corporeal or physical subject and as a social and psychological subject. Specifically, we trace key conflicts and debates around defining and measuring embodiment, followed by a review of embodiment over the lifespan (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age) and an examination of sexual performance and embodiment. We conclude with a discussion of embodiment as it relates to social identities like LGBT identity, race, gender, and class, followed by a discussion of embodied resistance or how people with stigmatized bodies fight back, imagine bodies outside the norm, transform the idea of a “freak,” or map on political philosophies onto the body.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Women and Gender Studies Program, Arizona State University, 85306, Glendale, AZ, USA

    Breanne Fahs

  2. Arizona State University, 85306, Glendale, AZ, USA

    Eric Swank

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  1. Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    John DeLamater

  2. Department of Sociology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Rebecca F. Plante

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Fahs, B., Swank, E. (2015). Unpacking Sexual Embodiment and Embodied Resistance. In: DeLamater, J., Plante, R. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17341-2_9

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