Irigaray theorizes that the body’s symbolic meaning structures subjectivity. In Irigaray’s Corporeality, the body becomes an effect and product of symbolism which creates a specific body type only appropriate for society. Therefore, language and culture produce the body. (Notes, 10/6/15). Irigaray stated that “Women’s social inferiority is reinforced and complicated by the fact that woman does not have access to language, except through recourse to ‘masculine’ systems of representation which disappropriate her from her relation to herself and to other women.” (Irigaray, p. 85). Narratives determine who each human is and how they act and how one experiences their body in different spaces at different moments and depending on how you feel
…show more content…
If the society placed the female body within sociohistorical frameworks, then women could reclaim the view of their bodies which would refuse any traditional binary oppositions. (Notes, 10/6/15). The male and female bodies each have representations that relate to specific time-periods and cultures but, when people speak of the body, it is as if nothing changes about the views but this is not the case. Through Irigaray’s corporeality, the timeless idea needs to be removed from the body, as the body has grown and changed due to its environment and culture. Culture is what makes the body, depending on what the societal constraints allow is what decides what one wears, how one wears it, how much makeup one wears, how one does their hair, and how one’s body should look. For example, Irigaray states that “the name of the father…determines ownership for the family…And what is required of …the wife.” (Irigaray, p. 83). The things that women force their body to do is not natural and the body does not automatically perform in these ways. In Corporeality, Irigaray wants to move away from women shaping their bodies by society’s ideals which continuously lead to society associating women with their body. The mind and body are two separate pieces of a person and while the woman may want to do something with her body due to patriarchal ideals, it is usually unnatural. The mind became a masculine and strong entity while the body became a feminine entity due to it being easily shaped and dominated. (Notes,
If the society placed the female body within sociohistorical frameworks, then women could reclaim the view of their bodies which would refuse any traditional binary oppositions. (Notes, 10/6/15). The male and female bodies each have representations that relate to specific time-periods and cultures but, when people speak of the body, it is as if nothing changes about the views but this is not the case. Through Irigaray’s corporeality, the timeless idea needs to be removed from the body, as the body has grown and changed due to its environment and culture. Culture is what makes the body, depending on what the societal constraints allow is what decides what one wears, how one wears it, how much makeup one wears, how one does their hair, and how one’s body should look. For example, Irigaray states that “the name of the father…determines ownership for the family…And what is required of …the wife.” (Irigaray, p. 83). The things that women force their body to do is not natural and the body does not automatically perform in these ways. In Corporeality, Irigaray wants to move away from women shaping their bodies by society’s ideals which continuously lead to society associating women with their body. The mind and body are two separate pieces of a person and while the woman may want to do something with her body due to patriarchal ideals, it is usually unnatural. The mind became a masculine and strong entity while the body became a feminine entity due to it being easily shaped and dominated. (Notes,