what is body politics?

Bodies are sites in which social constructions of differences are mapped onto human beings. Subjecting the body to systemic regimes – such as government regulation – is a method of ensuring that bodies will behave in socially and politically accepted manners. The body is placed in hierarchized (false) dichotomies, for example, masculine/feminine; mind/body; able-bodied/disabled; fat/skinny; heterosexual/homosexual; and young/old. Furthermore, these dichotomies illustrate that public/private borders are unstable.The denial of constitutional rights of women seeking abortions, racial/ethnic minorities, gay men, lesbians, and transgendered people, or people with disabilities have demonstrated the unequal application of free speech, due process, privacy rights, and the Equal Protection clause. The corridors of power are structured to accommodate the associated characteristics of male, heterosexual bodies of dominant racial and ethnic groups.

Seemingly personal issues associated with the body—such as rape, contraception, hair and clothing styles, pregnancy, or sexual harassment—were not traditionally seen as “political” and thus were seen as outside the provenance of political science. But bodies are at the core of the political order as markers of status and power. Contemporary societies tend to segregate not only access to political power but also work, religious life, domestic work, and intimate relationships according to the sex and race of the bodies they organize. Our social, economic, and political worlds are organized to reflect these habitual and legal patterns.

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project two research

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