Feminist critique has been instrumental in establishing the current interest in the body from the perspectives of sociological, historical, philosophical, and anthropological research. As a result of that, new concepts have emerged to denote the way in which women’s bodies were approached in the healthcare discourse. The idea of the gendered body was based on the focus on the concept of gender, which sees masculinity and femininity as social roles and the need for the representatives of genders to maintain within their binary heteronormative norms. The common body practices were combined with gender expectations of gendered attractiveness, embodied practice, and body movement.
In the public health discourse, the concept of the disciplined body has emerged to denote the supposed ‘risks’ that the body presents, such as being dangerous, problematic, or posing imminent danger to society. Because of this, the control over human bodies ‘in the name of public health’ has often been coercive and discriminatory (Lupton, 2012). The state’s preoccupation with controlling bodies went beyond health promotion and facilitated the increased responsibility of individuals to adhere to their respective gendered norms.
Thus, the feminist agenda aimed to point out the limitations in sexualization and the control of gendered bodies in accordance with social expectations. In addition, the disease became constituted in the social rather than the individual body, and deviant types were considered needful of control for the sake of health and wellbeing of the entire population. Because of this, by the twentieth century, everyone was treated as a potential victim requiring careful monitoring. Thus, even though the existing health promotion rhetoric aimed to promote health and wellbeing, the control over the gendered nature of bodies remains, legitimizing the ideology of social practices as to how individuals should conduct their bodies.
Reference
Lupton, D. (2012). Medicine as culture: Illness, disease and the body. London, UK: SAGE Publications.