Women have long been associated with the materiality and immanence
of the body. However, over the last several decades as men have
increasingly been targeted as consumers in their own right there has
also been a corresponding focus on the masculine body by corporate
America, the media, medicine, and individual men and women alike.
This course will examine the new attention paid to men’s bodies in
terms of consumption, medicalization, and bodywork. As a class we
will be exploring such questions as: What social and political
changes have led to the increased visibilities of men’s bodies?
Whose bodies are considered masculine? Is a man’s body always
considered masculine? What types of bodywork do men do and why? How
do race, class, and sexuality factor into which bodies are valuable
and/or visible? Who is the intended audience for images of men’s
bodies? Has this focus on bodies feminized American men or changed
conceptions of masculinity?