Ethnographies about transgressing social expectations of the body

Embodied Resistance engages the rich and complex range of society's contemporary "body outlaws"--people from many social locations who violate norms about the private, the repellent, or the forbidden.  This collection ventures beyond the conventional focus on the "disciplined body" and instead, examines conformity from the perspective of resisters.   By balancing accessibly written original ethnographic research with personal narratives, Embodied Resistance provides a window into the everyday lives of those who defy or violate socially constructed body rules and conventions.

CONTENTS



Foreword - Rose Weitz



Introduction - Chris Bobel and Samantha Kwan



Rewriting Gender Scripts


The Specter of Excess: Race, Class, and Gender in Women's Body Hair Narratives - Breanne Fahs and Denise A. Delgado


"Is That Any Way to Treat a Lady?": The Dominatrix's Dungeon - Danielle J. Lindemann


"Cruisin' for a Bruisin'": Women's Flat Track Roller Derby - Natalie M. Peluso


Becoming a Female-to-Male Transgender (FTM) in South Korea - Tari Youngjung Na and Hae Yeon Choo


Living Resistance: From Rapunzel to G.I. Jane - Samantha Binford


Living Resistance: Funnel as Phallus - Sara L. Crawley




Challenging Marginalization



"Give Me a Boa and Some Bling!": Red Hat Society Members Commanding Visibility in the Public Sphere - M. Elise Radina, Lydia K. Manning, Marybeth C. Stalp, and Annette Lynch


Fat. Hairy. Sexy: Contesting Standards of Beauty and Sexuality in the Gay Community - Nathaniel C. Pyle and Noa Logan Klein


Belly Dancing Mommas: Challenging Cultural Discourses of Maternity - Angela M. Moe


"It's Important to Show Your Colors": Counter-Heteronormativity in a Metropolitan Community Church - J. Edward Sumerau and Douglas P. Schrock


Living Resistance: An Accidental Education - Hanne Blank


Living Resistance: The Pickup - Catherine Bergart





Defying Authoritative Knowledges and Conventional Wisdom


Anorexia as a Choice: Constructing a New Community of Health and Beauty through Pro-Ana Websites - Abigail Richardson and Elizabeth Cherry


Public Mothers and Private Practices: Breastfeeding as Transgression - Jennifer A. Reich


"It's Hard to Say": Moving Beyond the Mystery of Female Genital Pain - Christine Labuski


"What I Had to Do to Survive": Self-Injurers' Bodily Emotion Work - Margaret Leaf and Douglas P. Schrock


Living Resistance: Intersex?: Not My Problem - Esther Morris Leidolf


Living Resistance: Doula-Assisted Childbirth: Helping Her Birth Her Way - Angela Horn





Negotiating Boundaries and Meanings

The Politics of the Stall: Transgender and Genderqueer Workers Negotiating "the Bathroom Question" - Catherine Connell


The Everyday Resistance of Vegetarianism - Samantha Kwan and Louise Marie Roth


Menopausal and Misbehaving: When Women "Flash" in Front of Others - Heather E. Dillaway


The Transformation of Bodily Practices among Religious Defectors - Lynn Davidman


Living Resistance: Crossing the Menstrual Line - David Linton


Living Resistance: Myself, Covered - Beverly Yuen Thompson





Afterword Barbara Katz Rothman