Sociology of the body

Sociology is the study of how people interact and behave in society. And sociology of the body focuses on how people use and see their physical bodies in different contexts.

Think about it this way- every single person has a body, but not all bodies are equal or treated the same way. The way a person's body is treated or perceived can depend on many factors such as race, gender, ability, age, and social class.

For example, girls are often told to sit with their legs closed, while boys are allowed to sit with their legs spread out. This is because we view girls’ bodies as more private and covered than boys’ bodies. People with disabilities might have different interactions with their body because they might be seen as less able to do things. This means they might not be treated the same way as someone who doesn’t have a disability.

Sociology of the body also looks at how we use our bodies to communicate with one another. We have different hand gestures, facial expressions, and body posture to convey different messages. When we see someone crossing their arms, we can usually guess that they are feeling defensive or closed off. Or when someone is smiling and nodding, we might assume they are agreeing or happy with what we are saying.

Overall, sociology of the body is all about understanding how people interact with their own body, how other people perceive it, and how we use it to communicate with others.