ERIC Number: EJ950710
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Jun
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-6843
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Leaks, Lumps, and Lines: Stigma and Women's Bodies
Chrisler, Joan C.
Psychology of Women Quarterly, v35 n2 p202-214 Jun 2011
Women's bodies have often been positioned in art and popular culture as monstrous or defiled and women's bodily products (e.g., menstrual fluid, breast milk) as disgusting. This framing has led to the stigmatization of aspects of women's bodies (e.g., leaking fluids, lumps of fat, and lines in the skin that indicate aging), especially those aspects that are perceived as threats to culture and society. In this article, the author draws on feminist theory, stigma theory, and terror management theory to explain the positioning of menstruating, fat, and old women as threatening and stigmatized. Evidence for the stigma is discussed, as are the effects of stigma on the stigmatized and the stigmatizers. Ways of resisting, reframing, and coping with stigma are suggested.
Descriptors: Interpersonal Attraction, Human Body, Feminism, Popular Culture, Females, Art, Social Bias, Aging (Individuals), Nutrition, Birth, Body Composition, Physiology, Evidence, Coping, Social Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A