ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment

SUMMER 2011

Sociology of the Body and Embodiment

IN THIS ISSUE
Page 1 Letter from the Chair Page 2 Letter from the Chair (cont.) Call for Submissions for the Next Newsletter Page 3 2011 Graduate Student Paper Award Winner Spotlight Page 4 2011 Best Publication Award Winner Spotlight Members Recent Awards and Announcements Page 5 Members Recent Books Members Recent Articles and Book Chapters Pages 6-10 Body and Embodiment-Related Sessions at ASA, Las Vegas Pages 11-12 Body and Embodiment-Related Conferences

Letter from the Chair, Victoria Pitts-Taylor

Even though our section on the Body and Embodiment is in its infancy I am the first elected Chair of this section! my thoughts lately have turned to the future of our field. While we have only recently received official recognition by the American Sociological Association, the sociology of the body, and body studies conceived more broadly, has generated an impressive amount of scholarship in its first twenty or so years. The significance of body studies has been demonstrated in its first two decades by a series of developments (not all of which are harmonious), including: the plethora of attention the body has received from feminist theory, cultural studies, queer theory, and critical race studies; the expansive treatment of the bodys representations in nearly all areas of cultural life; a renewed interest in embodied experience and phenomenology; and a rethinking of the materiality of the body in disability studies, health and illness, and social studies of medicine. There are many tensions in the field some old and some new that are potentially productive and useful. Among those we are now wrestling with include the role of affect in embodiment theory, the renewal of interest in ontology, the rise of new thought trends in materialism, post-positivism and critical realism, a rethinking of the legacies of postmodernism, and transformations in the relation of the humanities to the sciences. The primary question that occupied our field since the beginning has been: how is the body social and cultural? We often answered at the level of interpretation, discourse and representation. Among the questions we are now also asking is, how is biology social and cultural? This problem requires moving well beyond representation to grapple with whatever is unaccounted for in discourse some Continued on page 2 1

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SUMMER 2011

are again addressing the real, however problematic, distorted, multiple, and ideological it is. My sense is that in the 21st century, we need a sociology of the body now more than ever, and that a sociological framework in particular can make possible critical engagement with biology and biologies. We need to ensure that sociological and cultural perspectives participate in new conversations about the material body, about the realness of the world and our bodies in it. Sociological imaginations should inform public conversations about these matters, too, whether they be about genetics, neuroscience, or ever-more refined body-machine interfaces. We should be taking a lead role in thinking through these issues and in generating critical dialogue with other disciplines, many of which are furiously seeking to redefine human biology. I hope to see many of you in Las Vegas for our Section Business Meeting, where we can meet in person and discuss the future of our field. In the meantime, I want to encourage all of you to renew your section membership for the coming year and to recruit new members. Faculty should consider sponsoring a graduate student. We are currently at 275 members; we need to aim for at least 300 members to achieve higher standing in the American Sociological Association. Our incredibly exciting work should be recognized within sociology as important and urgently relevant. All the best, Victoria Pitts-Taylor City University of New York Graduate Center and Queens College Chair, Section on the Body and Embodiment, American Sociological Association

Call for Submissions for the Next Newsletter

Look for the call for submissions for the next newsletter on the Body & Embodiment listserv. Please send all newsletter submissions to BodyNewsletter@gmail.com. If you have comments or ideas you would like to contribute, please feel free to contact us! From the 2010-2011 Newsletter Editors: Thanks to all those who sent submissions for our section newsletter! Carla A. Pfeffer, Purdue University North Central (cpfeffer@purdue.edu) Shweta M. Adur, University of Connecticut (shweta.uconn@gmail.com)

ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment

SUMMER 2011

2011 Graduate Student Paper Award Winner Spotlight

Katherine Mason, University of California-Berkeley Katherine Mason, Ph.D. Candidate, Sociology, University of California, Berkeley for her submission Bearing Babies, Bearing Class: Class-Conditioned Agency and the Maternal Body. My article, Bearing Babies, Bearing Class: Class-Conditioned Agency and the Maternal Body, examines the bodily self-care practices of women who are pregnant, nursing, or postpartum. In the course of doing my dissertation research, I interviewed 70 middle- and working-class mothers living in rural Florida and urban California about how they encountered social and medical norms for their bodies during this time in their lives; I also observed state-sponsored nutrition counseling sessions at local offices of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. In general, women across classes were faced with a number of shared norms, including: healthy eating while pregnant, exclusive breastfeeding, and timely postpartum weight loss, all of which are tied to societal determinations of good motherhood and femininity. Yet, while these practices are subject to social scrutiny, so, too, are the modes of agency with which mothers pursue them. Middle-class mothers in my study acted with what I term rigid agency, an orientation marked by an unyielding, ideological pursuit of bodily goals; by contrast, working-class mothers exercised flexible agency, adapting to unforeseen circumstances and weighing the remaining options. This bifurcated vision of agency I propose, based on Saba Mahmoods (2005) exhortation to rethink agency as a modality of action, challenges both mainstream discourses about poor womens lack of agency-as-self-control and Western feminist scholars tendency to define agency as acts of resistance. Understanding class differences in agency illuminates how common wisdom about mothering best practices is deeply classed. Ultimately, mainstream evaluations of good motherhood judge not only what women do with their bodies, but how and by whom such practices are carried out. With this paper, I seek to bring the sociology of body and embodiment to bear on questions of social stratification and inequality, showing not only how bodies carry the markings of class, but also how ones class position can shape ones experience of the lived body. More generally, my dissertation uses the case of maternal embodiment to show how the care and cultivation of the body may be used to assert expertise and status vis--vis peers, as well as to make claims for inclusion and recognition in society at large. Submitting this paper for the Body and Embodiment sections graduate student paper award was my first time sharing any of my dissertation work with an audience besides my advisors and a couple of trusted friends so it was both thrilling and extremely reaffirming to actually win. I am grateful to the members of the award committee for their careful consideration of my paper, and I eagerly look forward to seeing what other members of the section are working on at the ASA annual meeting in Las Vegas.

ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment

SUMMER 2011

2011 Best Publication Award Winner Spotlight

Samantha Kwan, University of Houston Kwan, Samantha. 2009. Framing the Fat Body: Contested Meanings Between Government, Activists, and Industry. Sociological Inquiry 79(1): 25-50. Sociologists have long known that social problems do not derive solely from objective conditions but from a process of collective definition. At the core of some social issues are framing competitions, i.e., struggles over the production of ideas and meanings. My article examines framing competitions about the fat body, specifically how various social actors construct the fat body, and the implications of these constructions. Through frame analysis of organizational materials, I map the contested field of fat and document three cultural frames promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and the Center for Consumer Freedom (a food industry group). My analysis attempts to destabilize what are often thought of as unambiguous truths about the fat body. In the article, I also explore how each frame leads to different outcomes for social equality and how we think about fat bodies, health, and public policy. I would like to thank the committee for selecting my paper for the ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment Best Publication Award. Having my work recognized by the sociology of the body and embodiment community is unexpected and humbling. It motivates me to continue my research on body non-conformity, research that I hope will illuminate and address social inequalities related to the body.

Members Recent Awards and Announcements:

w Allison Better accepted a position in the Department of Sociology as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Kingsborough Community College - CUNY. w Nancy Naples was awarded the 2011 Excellence in Research Award for Social Sciences by the College of the Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Nancy has also been named the Director of the Womens Studies Program at the University of Connecticut. w Carla A. Pfeffer was awarded a 2011 Midwest Sociological Society Faculty Research Grant for her research project, Conflicted Alliances: Fat/Size-Acceptance Advocates and Activists Negotiating Conflicting Social Imperatives in the Era of the Obesity Epidemic.

ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment

SUMMER 2011

Members Recent Books

Bobel, Chris and Samantha Kwan, eds. 2011 (Available September 9). Embodied Resistance: Challenging the Norms, Breaking the Rules. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/books/422/embodied-resistance

Loe, Meika. 2011 (Available October 1). Aging Our Way: Lessons for Living from 85 and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press. http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Sociology/IndividualinSociety/?view =usa&ci=9780199797905

Twine, France Winddance. 2011. A White Side of Black Britain: Interracial Intimacy and Racial Literacy. Durham: Duke University Press. http://www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=8311

Members Recent Articles and Book Chapters

Saguy, Abigail C. and Anna Ward. 2011. Coming Out as Fat: Rethinking Stigma. Social Psychology Quarterly 74(1):53-75.

ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment

SUMMER 2011

Body and Embodiment-Related Sessions at ASA, Las Vegas

uSATURDAY AUGUST 20
2:30pm - 3:30pm Session: Section on Sociology of Mental Health Roundtables Table 02. Issues in Adolescence and the Transition to Adulthood Bodily Deviations and Body Image in Adolescence *Runar Vilhjalmsson, University of Iceland; *Gudrun Kristjansdottir, University of Iceland; *Dianne S Ward, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 4:30pm - 5:30pm Section on Sex and Gender Roundtables Table 06. Gender and the Body Session Organizer: Emily S. Mann, University of Maryland Table Presider: Dana A. Berkowitz, Louisiana State University Session Organizer: Heather Macpherson Parrott, Long Island University-C.W. Post Session Participants: Eternal Ink?: Tattooed Womens Motivations for Tattoo Removal *Desire Janelle-Maralyn Anastasia, Metropolitan State College of Denver Gender, Degendering, and the Construction of Meaning for Physical Scars *Rose Weitz, Arizona State University Gendered Perceptions of Own and Partner Weight-level: A Sociological Perspective *Vibeke Tornhoej Christensen, Danish Institute of Governmental Research 4:30pm - 5:30pm Session: Section on Sex and Gender Roundtables Table 08. Gender and Reproduction Maternal Embodiment and the Middle Class *Katherine Abigail Mason, University of California-Berkeley 4:30pm - 5:30pm Section on Sex and Gender Roundtables Table 12. Gender and the Media Neoliberalizing Men: Masculinity and the Male Body in Esquire, 1964-2009 *Stefan Vogler, University of Kansas 6:30pm - 8:10pm Joint Reception: Section on Mathematical Sociology; Section on Rationality and Society; Section on Evolution, Body, and Society

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SUMMER 2011

Body and Embodiment-Related Sessions at ASA, Las Vegas

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uSUNDAY AUGUST 21
12:30pm - 2:10pm Sociology of Body: Embodying Power and Difference Session Organizer: Miliann Kang, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Session Participants: Targeted Erasures: Enacting Genocide on the Bodies of Native American Women *Barbara Gurr, University of Connecticut The Civil Sphere in Our Bodies *Anna Lund, School of Social Sciences Alternative and Complementary Health Practices, Embodiment and Experiences of Healing *Eeva Sointu, Smith College 2:30pm - 3:30pm Section on Sociology of Sexualities Roundtables (one-hour) Table 08. Sexual Identities and Practices Fat, Hairy, Sexy: Big Men and Bears as Social Movement Actors *Nathaniel Clark Pyle, University of California Santa Barbara

uMONDAY AUGUST 22
8:30am - 10:10am Definitional Debates in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Studies When Do Bodies Matter?: Category-Crossers, Gender Panics, and the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System *Laurel E. Westbrook, Grand Valley State University; *Kristen Schilt, University of Chicago 8:30am - 10:10am Social Psychology Does This Article Make Me Look Fat? How Exposure to News Reporting Shapes Anti-Fat Attitudes *David Frederick, University of California-Los Angeles; *Abigail C. Saguy, University of California-Los Angeles; *Kjerstin Gruys, University of California-Los Angeles 8:30am - 10:10am Aging and the Life Course Paper Session Age and Sociological Imagination: Individual and Micro-level Dynamics Age and Embodied Masculinities: Mid-Life Gay and Heterosexual Men Talk about their Bodies *Amy Caroline Lodge, University of Texas Austin; *Debra Umberson, University of Texas

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Body and Embodiment-Related Sessions at ASA, Las Vegas

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uMONDAY AUGUST 22 (cont.)
2:30pm - 4:10pm Body and Embodiment Paper Session. Experts On/Of Bodies: Knowledge and Methodologies Session Organizer: Erynn Masi de Casanova, University of Cincinnati Discussant: Victoria L. Pitts-Taylor, City University of New York-Graduate Center Session Participants: Commitment and Non-Compliance: Conflicting Constructions of Gastric Banding Patients *Lisa Joy Borello, Georgia Institute of Technology Excessive Bleeding: Measuring and Diagnosing Menstrual Pathology *Katie Ann Hasson, University of California-Berkeley Penises and the Men Who Love Them: Negotiating Masculinity and Circumcision Status *Amanda Kennedy, State University of New York-Stony Brook Its Like Changing the Oil in Your Car: Botox Cosmetic and Discourses of Prevention *Dana A. Berkowitz, Louisiana State University The Genetic Testing Experience of BRCA Positive Women: Deciding Between Surveillance or Surgery *Sharlene J. Hesse-Biber, Boston College 2:30pm - 4:10pm Aging The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Body Weight and Weight Gain Among the Elderly in Taiwan *Zhihong Sa, Beijing Normal University 4:30pm - 6:10pm Section on Body and Embodiment Council and Business Meeting 4:30pm - 6:10pm Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtables Table 09. Health Social Movements Conflicted Alliances: Fat/Size-Acceptance Advocates and Activists in the Context of the Obesity Epidemic *Carla A. Pfeffer, Purdue University North Central; *Christabel L. Rogalin, Purdue University North Central 4:30pm - 6:10pm Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtables Table 15. Medical Knowledge and Medical Science Validity of Self-reported Adult Height, Weight and Body Mass Index *Ming Wen, University of Utah; *Lori Kowaleski-Jones, University of Utah 4:30pm - 6:10pm Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtables Table 21. Population Health

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SUMMER 2011

Body and Embodiment-Related Sessions at ASA, Las Vegas

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uMONDAY AUGUST 22 (cont.)
Does Size Matter? The Effect of Body Mass Index on Sexual Well-Being among U.S. Adults *Deborah Carr, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers; *Kristen W. Springer, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers; *Lauren Murphy, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers; *Heather Batson, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers 4:30pm - 6:10pm Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtables Table 24. Technology and Medicine The Holy Grail of Neuroscience: Phantom Limbs and the Mind-Body Connection *Cassandra S. Crawford, Northern Illinois University

uTUESDAY AUGUST 23
10:30am - 12:10pm Sociology of the Body II: Normative and Transgressive Bodies Session Organizer: Miliann Kang, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Presider: Katherine Abigail Mason, University of California-Berkeley Discussant: Katherine Abigail Mason, University of California-Berkeley Session Participants: Constraining Choices or Creating Superwoman? How Appearance Norms Perpetuate Gender Inequality in Career Selection *Christy Ley Kidner, Harvard University Body as Project: The Example of Latine Dance *Julia A. Ericksen, Temple University Beauty Does not Glow in a Skinny Body: Dieting Practices of Urban Indian Women *Jaita Talukdar, Loyola University Disturbingly Beautiful: Contradictory Representations of Corpses in TV Series of the 21st Century *Tina Weber, Technical University Berlin 10:30am - 12:10pm Section on Aging and the Life Course Invited Session Bringing the Body Back In: Biology and the Life Course Session Organizer: Deborah Carr, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers Presider: Deborah Carr, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers Discussant: Dale Dannefer, Case Western Reserve University Discussant: Deborah Carr, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers Session Participants: Genetic Interactions with Prenatal Social Environment: Effects on Academic and Behavioral Outcomes *Dalton Conley, New York University Social Approaches to Incorporating Biology in Sex/Gender Research *Kristen W. Springer, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers

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SUMMER 2011

Body and Embodiment-Related Sessions at ASA, Las Vegas

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uTUESDAY AUGUST 23 (cont.)
Obesity from a Life Course Perspective: Recent Developments in Sociological Research *Eric N. Reither, Utah State University Social Variability in the Physiology of Aging *Eileen Crimmins, University of Southern California Abstract: The life course shapes and is shaped by biological processes. However, sociologists have historically understated the influence of social forces on physical aging, focusing instead on psychological and contextual phenomena. Similarly, we have also given little systematic attention to how aspects of physical aging influence the life course. This panel brings together four eminent scholars to discuss the ways that a broad range of biological factors, including genetics (D. Conley), sex/gender (K. Springer), body weight (E. Reither), and illness/disability (E. Crimmins) are shaped by social context, and in turn, affect life course trajectories. 10:30am - 12:10pm Sociology of the Workplace Culture Change and Shit Work: Experiences of Body Work in Long Term Care *Steven H. Lopez, Ohio State University 10:30am - 12:10pm Thematic Session (Invited): Gender and Human Security Securitizing Sex, Bodies, and Borders: Feminist Governance, Strategic Framing, and the Politics of Rights in Thailands War against Human Trafficking *Edith Celine Marie Kinney, University of California-Berkeley 12:30pm - 2:10pm Medical Sociology II Disparities in Body Mass by College Education: A Pre-Existing Condition? *Richard A. Miech, University of Colorado Denver 12:30pm - 1:30pm Section on Economic Sociology Roundtables Table 10. Income Inequality - Empirical Evidence The Earning Effects of Fat and Fat-Free Mass. Results for the German Labor Market *Tobias Wolbring, LMU Munich; *Christiane Bozoyan, Institute of Sociology, LMU Munich 2:30pm - 4:10pm Section on Aging and the Life Course Roundtables Table 07. Life Course Transitions Ageism, the Anti-aging Industry, and Middle-Aged Persons Views of their Bodies *Toni Calasanti, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; *Amy Sorensen, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; *Neal King, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment

SUMMER 2011

Body and Embodiment-Related Conferences

Hong Kong Sociological Association: 13th Annual Conference
Hosted by Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Date: December 3rd, 2011 (Saturday) Venue: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Call for Papers Conference Theme: Global Sociology for a Global World In the process of globalization, sociological research has transcended national and trans-national levels of analysis. Important issues remain with regard to our understanding about the complex interplays between the global and the local. The conference aims to draw discussions about this valuable theme and encourage presentations contributing to the development of a more global sociology, or to a better understanding of local issues in the global context. Topics of interest include but not limited to: Global, Regional and Local Dynamics Education and Stratification Social Inequality and Poverty Migration/Immigration and Race/Ethnicity Universal Values and Cultural Diversity Civil Society and Democracy Gender and Family Youth and the Elderly Health and Well-Being Deviance, Crime and Law

Keynote Speaker Prof. Francisco Ramirez, Stanford University Prof. Francisco Ramirez is well-known in the field of Sociology of Education. He also serves as a faculty member in the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Stanford University. His research interests mainly include cross-national studies on the role of education in the formation of world society, and the influence of world society on educational developments. Submission of Abstract/Panels Papers are welcome from sociologists and colleagues in the social sciences. Prospective participants can apply to: a. present a paper b. organize a panel c. attend the conference. Hong Kong Sociological Association: 13th Annual Conference - Submission Form Please fill out the attached abstract submission form (250 words max.) and send it to Miss Queena NG by email (HKSA2011@ cuhk.edu.hk), by fax (852-26035213), or by post (Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong). Deadline for submission is: September 15,2011. Proposals will be peer reviewed. Registration Fee HKSA life and regular members: Free, Non-HKSA members: HK$400, Students: HK$150 Enquires For further enquiries, please contact Miss Queena NG of Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong at HKSA2011@cuhk.edu.hk.

Prof./Dr./Mr./Ms. Name Affiliation Office: Mobile: Tel. Email Postal address Title of paper Abstract (max. 250 words) Remark Date Pleasemail,emailorfaxthisformtoMiss.QueenaNg (Postaladdress:Dept.ofSociology,CUHK,Shatin,N.T.,HongKong; Email:HKSA2011@cuhk.edu.hk;Fax:85226035213). Fax Title

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ASA Section on the Body and Embodiment

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Body and Embodiment-Related Conferences, continued from page 11

Proposals are invited for the second, biannual interdisciplinary conference:

Gender, Bodies and Technology: (Dis)Integrating Frames

April 26-28, 2012 Roanoke, Virginia Sponsored by Womens and Gender Studies at Virginia Tech Proposal Deadline: September 15, 2011 We invite proposals from scholars in the humanities, social and natural sciences, visual and performing arts, engineering and technology for papers, panels, new media art and performance pieces that explore the intersections of gender, bodies and technology in contexts ranging from classrooms to workplaces to the internet. In keeping with the conference theme, we are asking contributors to include specific reference to the ways in which their own particular disciplinary frameworks shape their approach to their sites of research. Confirmed keynote speakers include: s Dr. Judith Halberstam Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Gender Studies, University of Southern California s Dr. Judy Wajcman Head of Department of Sociology, London School of Economics & Political Science s Dr. Allucqure Rosanne (Sandy) Stone Professor of New Media and Performance Studies at EGS Professor of Digital Arts and New Media Production in the ACTLab at University of Texas at Austin

Specific topics might include, but are not limited to:

Gender and the technologies of the workplace, education, and public/private spaces Disability and technologies of intervention Feminist theorizing of intersections between technology, constructions of embodiment, identity, selves Performance, new media and other creative expressions: engaging/enacting/destabilizing conventions of embodiment and technology Gendered innovations in technology: gendered objects, design, pasts/futures Technological production and control of classed, racialized, aged and gendered bodies Personal narrative and oral history as sources of embodied theorizing New Media, digital representation and virtual gendered environments Medicalized bodies: reproduction, disease, bioethics, body constructions Performing/transgressing gender and sexuality Technologies of development and sustainability; eco-feminism Activism, participatory decision-making and issues of technological citizenship As an assemblage of people and technologies we see the conference itself as enacting the conference theme. We welcome innovative uses of technology and creative session formats, including performance and interactive presentations, as well as traditional paper presentations. We are committed to the integration of scholarship from the Arts as well as more traditional forms of scholarship and we welcome early contact by email if space and/or technology requirements might present logistical challenges. Proposals will be reviewed and notification will be made by October 15, 2011. Final drafts of papers received before April 26, 2012 will be considered for possible publication. The Gender, Bodies & Technology website, online submission form, as well as the full program from the 2010 conference can be viewed at: http://www.cpe.vt.edu/gbt/. For more information, questions, or to be added to the GBT list serve, please contact: Sharon Elber, GBT Coordinator at selber@vt.edu.

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