The Body as an Object—a Sociocultural Perspective: The Study of Young Adults’ Narratives

Abstract

The authors analyse the problem of the objectification of the body, searching for the cultural sources of this phenomenon, and try to outline the consequences of body objectification. When objectified, the body is treated in an instrumental, task-oriented manner, which implies that its value stems from its usefulness in achieving goals. The paper focuses on the ways in which young adults describe their bodies. In the study, responses to the question What does the body mean to you? were collected from 136 young adults. The obtained narratives were examined with the qualitative method of narrative analysis. The results indicate that the objectifying approach to body perception is clearly dominant in the participants’ responses in the following categories: a tool, a connector, a showcase, a machine and an object. The authors discuss some possible ways to change the dominant social metaphors concerning the body.