FBA Rhetoric lecture series: Exploring the Body Professor Joanna Bourke
1) A History of Hair 31 Oct 2019, 6pm, Barnard’s Inn Hall
The 2014 scandal over Rachel Dolezal’s lying about being of African-American heritage reignited debates about the politics of hair. It has been followed by numerous books with titles such as Don’t Touch My Hair! This lecture explores how hair has been seen as symbolic of empowerment, deviance, and identity. It looks at the role of big business in promoting grooming products (including scalp-damaging chemicals); the hair-grooming regulations of the military; and the political significance of facial hair. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-hair
2) A History of the Eye 21 Nov 2019, 6pm, Barnard’s Inn Hall
From ancient times to popular self-help books today, eyes have been viewed as “windows to the soul”. The interpretation of eye shape and colour have been used to distinguish between different degrees of “civilization” (scientific racism), to identify personality traits, and to detect terrorists (recent research carried out by the CIA and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration). In some Asian societies, “double eyelid” surgery is popular. This lecture explores the politics of scientific theories about eyes.
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-the-eye
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-the-eye
3) A History of the Breast 16 Jan 2020, 6pm, Barnard’s Inn Hall
There has been a great deal of research on breast cancer, surgery, and implants. This lecture looks at changing ideas about the healthy breast. It explores notions of beauty, sexual pleasure, and age. Early maturation of girls, coupled with a greater focus on the breasts of older women, have had major effects on cultural expectations and experiences. The lecture also asks: what happens when we turn attention to the male breast?
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-the-breast
There has been a great deal of research on breast cancer, surgery, and implants. This lecture looks at changing ideas about the healthy breast. It explores notions of beauty, sexual pleasure, and age. Early maturation of girls, coupled with a greater focus on the breasts of older women, have had major effects on cultural expectations and experiences. The lecture also asks: what happens when we turn attention to the male breast?
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-the-breast
4) A History of the Penis and the Clitoris 13 Feb 2020, 6pm, Barnard’s Inn Hall
Is the clitoris simply a female version of the male penis? Many scientists and biologists in the past thought so. It is only in recent decades that the physiology of the clitoris has become understood. What can debates about these two organs tell us about scientific knowledge and gender identities? How have ideas about the “ideal penis” changed since the eighteenth century? What effect have these shifts had on the way men and women know their bodies?
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-penis-clitoris
Is the clitoris simply a female version of the male penis? Many scientists and biologists in the past thought so. It is only in recent decades that the physiology of the clitoris has become understood. What can debates about these two organs tell us about scientific knowledge and gender identities? How have ideas about the “ideal penis” changed since the eighteenth century? What effect have these shifts had on the way men and women know their bodies?
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-penis-clitoris
5) A History of the Stomach 19 Mar 2020, 6pm, Barnard’s Inn Hall
Vertical banded gastroplasty surgery (or stomach-stapling) has drawn attention in recent decades to the hidden, but unruly, stomach. This organ has been the focus of weight-control regimes for centuries, however. This lecture looks at nineteenth-century fads involving stomachs, including the medical prescription of tapeworms that were supposed to live in a person’s stomach and “eat” food on their behalf. It also explores ideas about the relationship between a person’s stomach and their personality. It traces these medical ideas through to the present.
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-the-stomach
Vertical banded gastroplasty surgery (or stomach-stapling) has drawn attention in recent decades to the hidden, but unruly, stomach. This organ has been the focus of weight-control regimes for centuries, however. This lecture looks at nineteenth-century fads involving stomachs, including the medical prescription of tapeworms that were supposed to live in a person’s stomach and “eat” food on their behalf. It also explores ideas about the relationship between a person’s stomach and their personality. It traces these medical ideas through to the present.
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-the-stomach
6) A History of the Foot 14 May 2020, 6pm, Barnard’s Inn Hall
The science of feet and footprints has a long, yet often forgotten, history. In this lecture, I look at what people from the late eighteenth century to the present knew about toes, arches, heels, and ankles. What makes a beautiful foot? How have ideas of foot-beauty changed over time? Size, shape, colour, smell, and even taste have been important markers in the literature, science, and sociology of feet.
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-foot
The science of feet and footprints has a long, yet often forgotten, history. In this lecture, I look at what people from the late eighteenth century to the present knew about toes, arches, heels, and ankles. What makes a beautiful foot? How have ideas of foot-beauty changed over time? Size, shape, colour, smell, and even taste have been important markers in the literature, science, and sociology of feet.
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-foot
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