SOC 189a: SOCIOLOGY OF THE BODY AND HEALTH
Fall 2015
DRAFT
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11-11:50am
_______________________
Professor Sara Shostak
Email: sshostak@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: Thursdays, 1-2:30pm & by appointment
Office: Pearlman 207
Graduate Teaching Fellow
Thomas Bertorelli
Email: tbert@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: Mondays, 10-10:50am & by appointment
Office: Pearlman 104
Introduction
This course introduces the sociological study of the body and the many varied sites at which it is
implicated in health and illness. Fundamentally, this course asks three sets of questions:
1) What is the lived experience of the body/self? How is this experience shaped through social
identities (gender, race, class), activities (body work, athletics, consumption), and interaction with
others? What are the relationships between body image, identity, and health?
2) How does medicine, as a social institution, interact with the body? How do social and cultural
assumptions act both on and through our physical selves? What are the health implications of
these assumptions?
3) How is the body politic (both individual and collective) made a subject of regulation,
surveillance, and control? What does this mean across multiple domains of life (e.g., sex &
reproduction, medical interventions, food/nutrition, and exercise)? How do body politics shape
people’s (very unequal) opportunities to be healthy and well?
Learning Goals
In this course, students will
1. Explore diverse theoretical perspectives on the body as a lived experience, a social phenomenon,
and a political subject;
2. Gain insight into core sociological concepts -- including stigma, identity, gender, and
medicalization -- as they apply to the body, health and illness;
3. Consider how race, class, gender, religion, and other dimensions of social organization shape
individual experiences and social understandings of the body and health;
4. Analyze issues of body, embodiment and health through the lens of a “sociological imagination”;
5. Apply these analytic perspectives to their own lives and communities.
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Course Requirements
1. Attendance and Respectful Participation
This course covers a lot of material, which we will navigate together. To support the collective learning
process in this class, your attendance to both lecture and discussion section is expected. You are also
expected to bring readings, along with your notes on the readings, to class. Consistent absences will be
noted and reflected in your final grade. Laptops are allowed but ONLY for taking notes or examining
readings. Other observed uses of your laptop will result in a reduction of your attendance grade.
As soon as we have been assigned discussion section rooms, we will meet in discussion sections during
class time each Thursday. We will announce the beginning of sections in class, and we will post section
assignments on LATTE. These smaller discussion sections will provide an important opportunity to
further explore and develop your thoughts, questions, and critiques.
I expect that you will be respectful of others in class. Examples include arriving on time, not leaving
early, listening when others speak, not monopolizing discussion time, and not having side-discussions.
Please turn cell phones and pagers off.
2. Response Papers
During the course of the semester, you will turn in five response papers that address the set of readings for
that week. These 3-4 page papers should concisely summarize the key themes presented in the week’s
readings (1-2pp) and then either raise questions about these themes or provide an analysis, elaboration, or
critique in your own words (1-2pp). Please be sure to engage directly with the readings and not simply
reiterate information from lecture.
Feel free to use these papers to let us know what has puzzled, intrigued, or challenged you, and we will
respond accordingly. You may also use these papers as a means of “making personal” the concepts or
analytic frameworks from the readings; for example, you may refer to relevant personal experiences,
current events and newspaper articles, or other sources. That said, we will sometimes ask you to read each
other’s response papers, so please do not write about anything you would not want to share with a
classmate.
If your paper meets these basic requirements, you will receive complete credit for it.
In order to help you stay on track through the semester, you are required to write a response paper for one
of the weeks in each of the following categories:
DUE
DUE
Response Paper 1 -Week 3
9/10
or
Week 4
9/17
Response Paper 2 -Week 6
10/1
or
Week 7
10/8
Response Paper 3 -Week 9
10/22 or
Week 10
10/29
Response Paper 4 -Week 12
11/12 or
Week 13
11/19
Response Paper 5 -Week 14&15 12/3
Because these papers are meant to support your understanding of the readings, and our discussions in
class, you must turn your paper in the week the readings are being discussed (i.e., by Thursday’s
class of that week). Late response papers will not receive credit, though we will comment on them, at
your request.
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3. Experiment in Living/Body Work Paper – Due October 15
This 5-6 page paper will describe and analyze the results of an experiment that you will conduct during
the first part of the course. For one week, you will change one concrete aspect of your bodily practices
(e.g., how you eat, how you work, how you exercise, how you dress, how you do your hair or make-up,
etc.) and report on the effects on your wellbeing, your sense of self, your social interactions, etc. Please
do not undertake any changes that you perceive to pose a risk to your health or wellbeing. Your paper
will reference at least three course readings from weeks 3-6 in describing your experience, and provide
complete citations to each. A handout will be given in class describing this assignment in detail.
5. Interview Paper – Due December 9
This 8-10 page paper will describe and analyze the results of a project you will conduct into access to
food, in a location of your choice, other than the Brandeis University campus (i.e., Waltham, your home
town, or some other place where you’ve spent a significant amount of time). This investigation will
include conducting at least one interview. We will learn about how to conduct an interview and draft
interview guides in class. Your paper will reference at least six course readings from weeks 7-16 in
analyzing your interview, and provide complete citations to each. A handout will be given in class
describing this assignment in detail.
Evaluation
Success in this four- credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9
hours of study time per week in preparation for class.
Grades will be computed on the following basis:
Attendance
15%
Response Papers (5 @ 5 points each)
25%
Body Work Paper
30%
Interview Paper
30%
Final grades will be calculated using the following distribution:
94-99 A
90-93 A87-89 B+
84-86 B
80-83 B77-79 C+
74-76 C
70-73 C-
67-69 D+
64-66 D
60-63 D<63 F
Please note: there is no curve in this class. You will be evaluated based on your own work, rather than in
comparison to your classmates.
Course Policies
Policies for Written Work
I place a high premium on careful research and clear organization and writing. We will spend time in
class talking about how to do each of these assignments. Papers may not be re-written. This means you
should offer your best effort the first time and ask questions if you need clarification before completing
any of the assignments. I encourage you to use the Writing Center as you work on your papers.
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Written assignments are due at the beginning of class. I will NOT accept your assignments through email. I only accept hard copies. If you have an emergency and are unable to complete an assignment,
you must speak with me as soon as possible so we can discuss how you will complete the assignment. Do
not assume that you may hand in all of your assignments at the end of the course, or that you will be
granted an extension.
You will lose one half of a letter grade for each 24 hours after the due date the assignment is turned in
(i.e. if you would have received an A but your paper is turned in within the first 24 hours after it is due,
you will receive an A-, etc.). Documented personal illness and personal/family emergencies constitute the
only acceptable grounds for late papers.
In the interest of fairness, all written papers are to be typed, double-spaced, using a 11-12-pt. Times New
Roman font, 1 inch margins. Please be sure to include page numbers, appropriate citations, and
bibliographies.
Academic Integrity
You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please be sure to follow the University’s
policies on academic integrity (see: http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/srcs/rr/). I will refer any
suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Director of Academic Integrity. Students may be
required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. My policy is to give a “0” for any
assignment that contains plagiarized material. Instances of academic dishonesty may result in sanctions
including but not limited to failure in the course, failure on the assignment in question, suspension from
the University and/or educational programs. Citation and research assistance can be found via LTS library
guides.
Reasonable Accommodations
If you are a student who has academic accommodations because of a documented disability, please contact me
and give me a copy of your letter of accommodation in the first two weeks of the semester. If you have questions
about documenting a disability, please contact Beth Rodgers-Kay in the Academic Affairs Office (x63470,
brodgers@brandeis.edu).
Books available at the campus bookstore and on reserve at the library
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. 1997. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Vintage
Books.
Gimlin, Debra. 2002. Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
Groce, Nora Ellen. 2005 [1985]. Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha’s
Vineyard. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Preves, Sharon. 2003. Intersex & Identity: The Contested Self. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
All other readings will be posted on Latte.
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Schedule of Sessions and Assigned Readings
Week 1
Introduction
August 27
Overview and Introductions
Week 2
Body, Self, and Identity – Body Projects
August 31
Miner, Horace. 1956. “Body Ritual among the Nacirema.” The American
Anthropologist 58: 503-507.
Available at URL: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~thompsoc/Body.html
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy and Margaret M. Lock. 1987. “The Mindful Body: A
Prolegomenon to Future Work in Medical Anthropology.” Medical Anthropology
Quarterly 1:6-41.
Recommended: Grosz, E. Refiguring Bodies. 2005. Pp. 43-47 in The Body: A
Reader. Miriam Fraser and Monica Greco (Ed.) New York: Routledge.
September 2
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. 1997. The Body Project: An Intimate History of
American Girls. New York: Vintage Books.
Introduction & Chapter 1
September 3
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. 1997. The Body Project: An Intimate History of
American Girls. New York: Vintage Books.
Chapters 3 & 4
Week 3
Body, Self, and Identity – Beauty in Context
September 9
Craig, Maxine Leeds. 2002. Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty, and
the Politics of Race. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chapters 1&2
September 10
Mears, Ashley. 2011. Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model.
Introduction & Chapter 5.
Week 4
Body, Self, and Identity – Body Work
September 16
Gimlin, Debra. 2002. Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Chapters 1 & 2
September 17
Gimlin, Debra. 2002. Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture. Berkeley,
CA: University of California Press.
Chapters 3&4
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Week 5
Body, Self, and Identity – Being an Athlete
September 21
George, Molly. 2005. “Making Sense of Muscle: The Body Experiences of
Collegiate Women Athletes.” Sociological Inquiry 75(3): 371-345.
September 24
Wacquant, Loic. 1995. “Pugs At Work: Bodily Capital and Bodily Labor Among
Professional Boxers.” Body and Society 1(1): 65-93
Week 6
Between Bodies, Selves & Medicine – Cosmetic Interventions and Their
Consequences
September 29
Brandeis Monday
Gilman, Sander. 2000. Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of
Aesthetic Surgery. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Chapter 3: The Racial Nose
Kaw, Eugenia. 1993. “Medicalization of Racial Features: Asian American
Women and Cosmetic Surgery.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 7(1):74-89.
Film (in class): “Killing Us Softly 3” (2000)
September 30
Kang, Miliann. 2010. “Manicuring Intimacies: Inequality and Resistance in
Asian-Owned Nail Salons.” In Intimate Labors: Cultures, Technologies, and the
Politics of Care. Edited by Eileen Boris and Rhacel Salazar Parrenas. Palo Alto:
Stanford University Press.
October 1
Pitts-Taylor, Victoria. 2007. Surgery Junkies: Wellness and Pathology in
Consumer Culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Introduction & Chapter 2
Week 7
October 7
The Body and Medicine – Medicalization and Enhancement
Conrad, Peter. 1992. “Medicalization and Social Control.” Annual Review of
Sociology 18: 209-32.
Conrad, Peter and Deborah Potter. 2004. “Human Growth Hormone and the
Temptations of Biomedical Enhancement.” Sociology of Health and Illness
26(2):1-32.
October 8
Szymczak, Julia and Peter Conrad. 2006. “Medicalizing the Aging Male Body:
Andropause and Baldness” Pp. 89-111 in Medicalized Masculinities. Edited by
Dana Rosenfeld and Christopher Faircloth. Philadelphia: Temple University
Press.
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Week 8
The Body and Medicine – Medicalization and Sex/Gender/Sexuality
October 12
Hartley, Heather. 2003. "'Big Pharma' in our Bedrooms: An Analysis of the
Medicalization of Women's Sexual Problems." Pp. 89-129 in Gender
Perspectives on Health and Medicine: Key Themes, vol. Advances in Gender
Research, v.7: Elsevier.
October 14
Mamo, Laura and Jennifer R Fishman. 2001. “Potency in All the Right Places:
Viagra as a Technology of the Gendered Body.” Body & Society 7:13-35.
Loe, Meika. 2004. The Rise of Viagra: How the Little Blue Pill Changed Sex in
America. New York: New York University Press.
Chapter 3: “Fixing the Broken Male Machine
October 15
Gura, Trisha with Julie Goodman. 14 January 2009. “The Short End of the Stick”
Available at URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trisha-gura/the-short-end-ofthe-stic_b_157832.html
Film (in class): “Short” Available at URL:
http://www.notes.co.il/alterman/27320.asp
**Experiment in Living/Body Work Paper Due**
Week 9
October 19
The Body and Medicine – Intersex and Identity
Preves, Sharon. 2003. Intersex & Identity: The Contested Self. New Jersey:
Rutgers University Press.
Chapter 1-2
Film (in class): “Sex Unknown”
October 21
Preves, Sharon. 2003. Intersex & Identity: The Contested Self. New Jersey:
Rutgers University Press.
Chapter 3-4
October 22
Preves, Sharon. 2003. Intersex & Identity: The Contested Self. New Jersey:
Rutgers University Press.
Chapter 5-6
Week 10
October 26
The Body and Medicine – Deafness, Biology, and Culture
Groce, Nora Ellen. 2005 [1985] Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language:
Hereditary Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Chapters 1-4
Film (in class): “Sound and Fury”
October 28
Groce, Nora Ellen. 2005 [1985] Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary
Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chapters 5-8
October 29
Parens, Erik and Adrienne Asch. 2003. “Disability Rights Critique of Prenatal
Genetic Testing: Reflections and Recommendations.” Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews 9: 40-47.
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Week 11
The Body Politic – Regulating Sexuality
November 2
Schalet, Amy. 2011. Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of
Sex. Chapter 1, “Raging Hormones, Regulated Love.” Chicago, University of
Chicago Press.
November 4
Mamo, Laura, Nelson, Amber and Aleia Clark. 2011. “Producing and Protecting
Risky Girlhoods.” Pp. 121-145 in Three Shots at Prevention: The HPV Vaccine
and the Politics of Medicine's Simple Solutions, edited by K. Wailoo, J.
Livingston, S. Epstein, and R. Aronowitz. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press.
Casper, Monica J. and Laura M. Carpenter. 2008. “Sex, Drugs, and Politics: The
HPV Vaccine for Cervical Cancer.” Sociology of Health & Illness 30:886-899
November 5
Brückner, Hannah and Peter Bearman. 2005. "After the Promise: The STD
Consequences of Adolescent Virginity Pledges." Journal of Adolescent Health
36:271-278.
Talbot, Margaret. 3 November 2008. "Red Sex, Blue Sex: Why Do So Many
Evangelical Teen-agers Become Pregnant?" The New Yorker.
Week 12
The Body Politic – Is Obesity an Epidemic?
November 9
Saguy, A. and K. Riley. 2005. “Weighing Both Sides: Morality, Mortality and Framing
Contests over Obesity.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law 30(5): 869-921.
November 11
Christakis, N.A. and J.H. Fowler. 2007. “The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social
Network Over 32 Years.” New England Journal of Medicine 357: 370-379.
Film (in class): “The Weight of the Nation”
November 12
Lovejoy, Meg. 2001. “Disturbances in the Social Body: Differences in Body
Image and Eating Problems among African American and White Women.”
Gender & Society 15:239-261.
Week 13
The Body Politic – Food Access and Foodways
November 16
Gottlieb, Robert, and Anupama Joshi. 2010. “Accessing Food.” Pp. 39-58 in
Food Justice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
November 18
Cannuscio Carolyn C., Weiss Eve E. and David A. Asch. 2010. “The
Contribution of Urban Foodways to Health Disparities.” Journal of Urban Health
87(3): 381–393
November 19
Gottlieb, Robert, and Anupama Joshi. 2010. “Forging New Food Routes.” Pp.
151-176 in Food Justice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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Week 14&15
The Body Politic – Health Inequality in the U.S.
November 23
Williams, David R. 2012. “Miles to Go Before We Sleep: Racial Inequalities in Health.”
Journal of Health and Social Behavior 53(3): 279-295.
Film (in class): “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?”
November 30
LaVeist, Thomas. 2005. “Theories of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Health.” Pp. 133-156
in Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the U.S.
San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
December 2
Schulman KA, et al. 2002. “The Effect of Race and Sex on Physicians’
Recommendations for Cardiac Catheterization.” pp. 516-530. In Race, Ethnicity and
Health: A Public Health Reader. Edited by Thomas A. La Viest.. San Francisco: JosseyBass.
December 3
Krieger, Nancy. 2005. “Embodiment: A Conceptual Glossary for Epidemiology.”
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 59(5): 350–55.
Week 16
Wrapping Up & Looking Forward
December 7
Holmes, Seth. 2013. Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United
States. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chapters 4 & 5
December 9
Concluding Discussion
** Final Paper Due**
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