A Sociological Explanation of Body Management and its Relationship with Social and Cultural Factors

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Full Professor, Department of Sociology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Body management is one of the important concepts in medical sociology which has become currently prevalent among girls and women, and individuals create social bodies by changing their physical features. Relying on the theories of Giddens, Goffman, Bourdieu, Featherstone and Turner, the present article presents a sociological explanation of body management. The study has been carried out using the survey method. The research population included all the women in Ilam, Iran who were aged 19 to 44, and the data were collected using a questionnaire in 2016. A sample of 381 individuals was selected based on Cochran formula and the cluster sampling method. Four dimensions of body management were studied: weight loss and health, cosmetic surgeries, clothing type and cosmetic and health care. Overall, the mean body management dimensions was 2.978, which is moderate from the perspective of the research sample. The findings revealed that most of the subjects were married housewives and came from the middle class. Meanwhile, the findings revealed a significant relationship between the variables age, media use, religiosity, social acceptance and reference groups, on the one hand, and body management, on the other.

Keywords

References

 
Adelman, Mirian (2008). "The Beautiful and the object", Gender Identity and Constructions of the Body in Contemporary Brazilian Culture, London Journal of Sociology, Vol. 185, No. 6.
Ahmadnia, Sh. (2005). The Sociology of Body and Women's Body, Women Auarterly, Vol.2, No. 5, pp. 132-143 [in Persian].
Aronson, N. (1984). Comment of Bryan Turner's the Government the Body: Medical Regiments and the Rationalization of Diet, the British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 254-269.
Baker- Pitts, Catherine (2008). Symptom of Solution: The Relational Meaning on Cosmetic Surgery for Woman. PhD Thesis, New York University.
Coser, L. (2008). Masters of Sociological Thought, Translated by Mohsen Solasie, Tehran: Elmi Publication [in Persian].
Cregan, K. (2006). The Sociology of the body: Mapping the Abstraction of Embodiment. SAGE Publication. London.
Frost, L. (2003). "Doing Bodies Directly? Gender, Youth, Aearance and Damage" Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 6. p.p (53-70).
Gimlin, D. (2006). "The Absent Body Project: Cosmetic Surgery as a Response to Bodily Dye- appearance", Sociology, Vol. 40, No 4. p.p (699-716).
Glaser, R. N. (1992). Woman's body image and law. Duke law Journal. Vol. 43. No.
Gottfried, Heid (2003). "tempting bodies: Shaping gender at work in Japan", Sociology, Vol. 37. No 2.
Gragan, S. (2000). Body Image, in Jane M. usher (Ed.) Women's Health, Leiscester: The British Psychological Society. pp.356-363.
Heinderg, L. (1996). "Theories of Body Image Disturbance", In: Body Image, Eating Disorders and Obeity- Antegrative Guide for Assessment and treatment, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Jakson, Hazel O, (1994). Dress and Appearance Responses to Perceptions of Aging. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal. Vol. 12 (4).
Nettleton, s. and Watson, J. (1998). "the Body in Everyday life", London and New york, Routledge.
Ritzer, G. (2005). Contemporary Sociological theory, Translated by Mohsen Solasi. Tehran: Elmi Publication [in Persian].
Robinson, Tammy Renee, (2003). Appearance management created appearance. PhD thesis. Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic institute and state University. Virginia.
Sherkat, D. Elison, E. (1999). Recent Devlopment, and Current Controversies in the Sociology of Religion, Anmul Review social, Vol. 25.
Shilling, C. (2005). The body in culture. Technology & Society, SAGE Publication. London.
Shilling, chris (1993). "Body and Social Theory", London, Sage Publication.
Sotoudeh, G., and et al. (2008). "What Women Think About their Husband's Opinions Might Influence Women's Body Image, An Explorative Study", Indian Journal of Medical Science, Vol. 65, No.3, p.p. 98-104.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 24 March 2017
  • Revise Date: 02 January 2018
  • Accept Date: 02 May 2018

Share

How to cite

Statistics