SOC 189a: SOCIOLOGY OF THE BODY AND HEALTH
Fall 2008
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11am-12noon
Olin Sang 101
Professor Sara Shostak
Email: sshostak@brandeis.edu
Telephone: 781.736.2213
Office Hours: Thursdays, 9-11am and by appointment
Office: Pearlman 111
Teaching Fellows:
Ken Sun
Email: kensun@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: Mondays 10-11am and by appointment
Office: Pearlman 108
Miranda Waggoner
Email: waggoner@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays 10-11am and by appointment
Office: Pearlman 108
Introduction
This course introduces the sociological study of the body and the many varied sites at which it is
implicated in health and illness. Drawing on the framing of Scheper-Hughes and Lock (1987), this
course considers three perspectives on the body: 1) the lived experience of the body/self, which is shaped
through social experience and interaction 2) a social body, which is a symbol for articulating relationships
between nature, society, and culture; and 3) a body politic, that is, the (individual and collective) body
that is subject to regulation, surveillance, and control across multiple domains of life (e.g., sex &
reproduction, medical treatment, leisure, sport). We consider how the body functions as a point of
intersection between biology and society. These understandings of the body represent not only
overlapping units of analysis, but also different theoretical approaches to studying the body and health.
Students will have the opportunity to explore diverse theoretical perspectives and methods for
understanding the sociology of the body and health.
Equally, this course provides an introduction to how medical sociologists have studied the body vis-à-vis
health, illness, and medicine, addressing a variety of substantive topics. Throughout the course we will
pay particular attention to how race, class, gender, religion, and other dimensions of social organization
shape individual experiences and social understandings of the body and health.
Course Structure and Requirements
1. Attendance and Participation (10 points)
We will cover a lot of material in this course. Lectures and discussions will supplement and expand upon,
not repeat, the assigned readings. It is important that you attend both physically and mentally. The
assigned readings provide the basis for most of our class discussion and analysis, so please come prepared
to use the readings to help address the questions which will be the focus of our collective intellectual
endeavor. Related, you’ll want to bring the readings and/or your notes and questions about them to class
with you. You will get out of this class what you put into it and the course will be more fun for all of us if
you are actively engaged. Students are expected to attend every class, except in the case of documented
personal illness, family/personal emergency, or observance of a religious holiday.
Class participation is a part of your grade. I recognize that students have a variety of styles and ways of
participating in class. Students may contribute by asking questions or making comments about the
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reading assignments and topics; posting newspaper or Internet articles of interest to the course LATTE
site, and; contributing to discussion sections.
Beginning with Week 4, we will meet in discussion sections during class time each Thursday. The first
section meeting will be on Thursday, September 18. Your section assignment and location will be
announced (and posted on LATTE) by Monday, September 15. These smaller discussion sections will
provide a fuller opportunity to contribute your thoughts, questions, and critiques. Participation is
especially important here and your section leader will take attendance.
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 (30 points)
During the semester, you must complete 10 response papers (~2pp.) which address the week’s readings.
You may select which weeks you turn in a response paper and on which day you turn in your response paper;
however, you must always turn in the paper by the last class meeting of a given week for it to “count” for that
week. You may not complete more than one response paper per week.
Your response papers should be approximately 2 pages long. In each paper, please first briefly summarize
the key point or theme of the reading(s), in your own words, as you understood it (no more than half a page).
Following, you may make connections to other readings, provide a critique, or raise questions or points for
clarification. You will get full credit for each response paper that meets these criteria and is turned in on
time.
Once we begin meeting in sections, please turn your paper in to whoever leads the discussion section to
which you’ve been assigned. Prior, you may turn your paper in to any of the course instructors.
4. Observation Paper (15 points) -- Due October 6
Select a public setting where you can easily conduct observation. This may be a residence hall, dining
hall, grocery store, fast food restaurant, mall, café, hair salon, gym, lobby of a theatre, religious service,
sporting event, etc. Spend ~60 minutes in this setting watching people in this place and take notes on
what you see.
Write 5 pages reflecting on your observations, addressing the following questions:
- How do the activities that happen in this place involve the body? Are there any body rituals
evident in this location? Are there any ways in which the activities you observe contribute to
health and/or illness?
- In what ways does the body enter into social interactions in this place? In what ways, if any,
do people express their identities in/on/through their bodies or bodily practices in this setting?
Do physical similarities and differences seem to matter in any particular ways here?
- Are there any representations of the body and health here (posters, advertisements, etc.)?
What is the story that they tell? In what ways, if any, do these representations shape the
experience of being in this place?
- Be sure to use at least three of the class readings to support your analysis of this setting.
Provide citations for these readings.
Note: if the place you have selected for observation does not allow you to answer these questions, you
will have to conduct observation at another location.
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5. Media Analysis Paper (15 points) -- Due November 13
From either a print or online source (such as Lexis Nexis or from an archive of the site), find an article
from a major newspaper (eg. New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, or San
Francisco Chronicle) or from a major news magazine (eg. Newsweek, Time, U.S. News and World
Report). Cut out, photocopy, or print the article, including any photographs, diagrams, or other graphics
which accompany it.
Write a 5 page paper addressing the following questions:
- Identify and briefly describe the physical condition, illness, or health problem you have
chosen. If there are population groups most affected by this illness, physical condition or health
status, please describe this group (or groups).
- What are the biological factors that are important to understanding this condition or health
status?
- What are the social factors or social processes that are important to understanding this condition
of health status?
- In what ways, if any, do people with this condition (and/or their family members) interact with
the health care system? What other social institutions, if any, are important to the experience
of living with this condition?
- If you were to rewrite this article, what changes would you make? Are there any things that you
would add, subtract, or emphasize differently?
- Be sure to use at least three of the class readings to support your analysis of this setting. Provide
citations for these readings.
Be sure to turn in the article with your paper. Note: if the article you first choose does not allow you to
answer the questions below, you’ll need to choose another article.
6. Final Essay (30 points) –due December 15 (before noon). During the final week of the semester, I
will distribute a broad essay question designed to tie together key sets of ideas about the sociology of the
body and health. You will need to hand in your response by noon on Monday, December 15. Late exams
will not be accepted and will receive no credit.
Policies for Written Work
All written papers are to be typed, double-spaced, using a 11-12-pt. Times New Roman font, 1 inch
margins, and must include page numbers, proper use of citations, and bibliographies. 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.
Written assignments are due at the beginning of class and the final essay is due on or before noon on
December 15, 2008. I will NOT accept your assignments through e-mail. 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 full 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 a B, etc.). Documented personal illness and personal/family emergencies constitute the only
acceptable grounds for late papers.
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Assignments and Weight in Determining Grades
Grades will be computed on the following basis:
Attendance and Class Participation
10%
Response papers
30%
Observation Paper
15%
Media Analysis Paper
15%
Final Essay
30%
Final grades will be calculated using the following distribution:
94-99
A
74-76 C
90-93
A70-73 C87-89
B+
67-69 D+
84-86
B
64-66 D
80-83
B60-63 D77-79
C+
<63
F
I do not grade on a curve and do not give extra credit assignments. All written exercises must be
completed to receive a passing grade in this class.
Academic Integrity
You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity (see
http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdje/ai/). . I will refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty
to the Office of Student Development and Conduct. 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.
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 Undergraduate 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.
Critser, Greg. 2003. Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World. New York: Houghton
Mifflin.
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
August 30
Week 2
Introduction
Overview and Introductions
Theorizing Bodies I
September 1
NO CLASS
September 3
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
Martin, Emily. 1991. The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a
Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles. Signs 16 (3): 485-501.
September 4
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.
Grosz, E. Refiguring Bodies. 2005. Pp. 43-47 in The Body: A Reader. Miriam
Fraser and Monica Greco (Ed.) New York: Routledge.
Week 3
September 8
Theorizing Bodies II
Conrad, Peter. 1992. Medicalization and Social Control. Annual Review of
Sociology 18: 209-32.
Becker, Gay and Robert Nachtigall. 1992. Eager for Medicalisation: The Social
Production of Infertility as a Disease. Sociology of Health & Illness 14 (4) 456471.
September 10
Goffman, E. 1963. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New
York: Touchstone Press.
Chapter 1 ( p. 1-40)
September 11
Nettleton, Sarah. 1994. Inventing Mouths: Disciplinary Power and Dentistry. Pp.
73-88 in Colin Jones and Roy Porter, eds. Reassessing Foucault: Power,
Medicine and the Body. London: Routledge.
Week 4
Body, Self, and Identity – Body Projects
September 15
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. 1997. The Body Project: An Intimate History of
American Girls. New York: Vintage Books.
Introduction & Chapter 1
September 17
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. 1997. The Body Project: An Intimate History of
American Girls. New York: Vintage Books.
Chapters 3 & 4
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September 18
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
Short Film: “A Girl Like Me”
Available at URL: http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/6/a_girl_like_me/
Week 5
Body, Self, and Identity -- Body Work
September 22
Gimlin, Debra. 2002. Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Introduction, Chapters 1-3
September 24
Gimlin, Debra. 2002. Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Chapter 4 and Conclusion
September 25
Harrison G. Jr., Katharine A. Phillips and Roberto Olivardia. 2000. The Adonis Complex:
The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession. New York: The Free Press.
Chapter 2: The Rise of the Adonis Complex: Roots of Male Body
Obsession
Monaghan, Lee F. 2005. Big Handsome Men, Bears and Others: Virtual
Constructions of ‘Fat Male Embodiment.’ Body and Society 11(2): 81–111
Week 6 & 7
Body, Self, and Identity – Medical Interventions
September 29
NO CLASS
October 1
NO CLASS
October 2
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.
October 6
LIBRARY RESEARCH SESSION
**Observation Assignment Due**
October 8
Gurevitch, M., et al. 2004. (Dis)embodying Gender and Sexuality in Testicular
Cancer. Social Science and Medicine 58: 1597-1607
Elson, J. 2003. Hormonal Hierarchy: Hysterectomy and Stratified Stigma.
Gender & Society 17 (5): 750-770.
October 9
NO CLASS
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Week 8
The Body and Medicine -- Enhancement
October 13
Mamo, Laura and Jennifer Fishman. 2001. Potency in All the Right Places:
Viagra as a Technology of the Gendered Body. Body & Society 7(4):13-35.
October 15
Salant, Talya, and Heena Santry. 2006. Internet Marketing of Bariatric Surgery:
Contemporary Trends in the Medicalization of Obesity. Social Science and
Medicine 62: 2445-2457.
October 16
Conrad, Peter and Deborah Potter. 2004. Human Growth Hormone and the Temptations
of Biomedical Enhancement. Sociology of Health and Illness 26(2):1-32.
Film (clips): “Short”
Available at URL: http://www.notes.co.il/alterman/27320.asp
Week 9
The Body and Medicine -- Making Sex and Gender
October 20
Lawrence, Susan C. and Kae Bendixen. 1992. His and Hers: Male and Female
Anatomy in Anatomy Texts for U.S. Medical Students, 1890-1989. Social
Science and Medicine 35(7): 925-934.
October 22
Preves, Sharon. 2003. Intersex & Identity: The Contested Self. New Jersey:
Rutgers University Press.
Chapter 1-3
October 23
Preves, Sharon. 2003. Intersex & Identity: The Contested Self. New Jersey:
Rutgers University Press.
Chapter 4-6
Short Film: “XXXY”
Available at URL: http://www.isna.org/videos/xxxy
Week 10
The Body Politic -- Social Construction and Social Experience of Disability
October 27
Groce, Nora Ellen. 2005 [1985] Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language:
Hereditary Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Chapters 1-4
October 29
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 30
Film: “Sound and Fury”
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Weeks 11
November 3
The Body Politic -- (Re)producing a Healthy Nation
Rapp, Rayna. 1998. Refusing Prenatal Diagnosis: The Meanings of Bioscience in
a Multicultural World. Science, Technology and Human Values 23(1):45-70.
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.
November 5
Wolf, Joan B. 2007. Is Breast Really Best? Risk and Total Motherhood in the
National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign. Journal of Health Politics, Policy
and Law 32(4): 595-636.
Guest Lecture: Miranda Waggoner
November 6
Week 12
Avishai, Orit. 2007. Managing The Lactating Body: The Breast-Feeding
Project and Privileged Motherhood. Qualitative Sociology 30:135–152
The Body Politic -- Obesity in the U.S.
November 10
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 12
Critser, Greg. 2003. Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in
the World. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Chapters 1-3
November 13
Critser, Greg. 2003. Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in
the World. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Chapters 4-7
**Media Analysis Paper Due**
Week 13
Bodies in Places – Environments and Inequalities
November 17
Evans G.W., and E. Kantrowitz. 2002. Socioeconomic Status and Health: The
Potential Role of Environmental Risk Exposure. Annual Review of Public Health
23:303–31.
November 19
Brown, P., Zavestoski, S., Luebke, T., Mandelbaum, J., McCormick, S. and B.
Mayer. 2003. The Health Politics of Asthma: Environmental Justice and
Collective Illness Experience in the United States. Social Science and Medicine
57:453-464
Guest Lecture: Miranda Waggoner
November 20
Altman, Rebecca, Morello-Frosch, Rachel, Brody, Julia, Rudel, Ruthann, Brown,
Phil and Mara Averick. (forthcoming, December 2008). Pollution Comes Home
and Gets Personal: Women’s Experience of Household Toxic Exposure. Journal
of Health and Social Behavior.
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Week 14
Bodies in Motion – Embodying Resistance
November 24
Pitts, Victoria. ‘Reclaiming’ the Female Body: Embodied Identity Work,
Resistance and the Grotesque. Body & Society (4) 3: 67-84.
November 26
Film : “Rize”
Available at URL:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6401727599474326174&ei=AvuySOj
xIKLCqALZmLjkDA&q=rize
November 27
NO CLASS
Weeks 15 & 16
Future Directions
December 1
Brückner, Hannah and Peter S. Bearman. 2005. After the Promise: The STD
Consequences of Adolescent Virginity Pledges. Journal of Adolescent
Health 36:271-278
Recommended:
Bearman, Peter S. and Hannah Brückner. 2001. Promising the Future: Virginity
Pledges and the Transition to First Intercourse. American Journal of Sociology
106(4): 859-912.
December 3
Moore, Lisa Jean and Matthew Schmidt. 1999. On The Construction of Male
Differences: Marketing Variations in Technosemen. Men & Masculinities 1(4):
339-359.
Guest Lecture: Ken Sun
December 4
Shostak, S., Freese, J., Link, B.G. and J.C. Phelan. (forthcoming, March 2009).
The Politics of the Gene: Social Status and Beliefs about Genetics for Individual
Outcomes. Social Psychology Quarterly.
December 8
Conclusions, Reflections, and Next Steps (No reading)
** Final Exam Essay Question will be distributed in class**
**DUE DECEMBER 15, BEFORE NOON**
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