The Spectre of the Scalpel: The Historical Role of Surgery and Anatomy in Conceptions of Embodiment

Doyle, Julie

doi:10.1177/1357034x07087528

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Body image offers a potentially complementary approach to thinking about penises . Stemming from the Cartesian split between the rational, masculine mind and the corporeal, feminine – to use Doyle's () term – “raw material” of human bodies, body image research has traditionally focused on women. This parallels the focus in psychology on abnormality and the way in which the biomedical sciences developed (e.g., epidemiology, anatomy), treating male bodies as the unproblematic, medical norm (Grosz ) and elevating the manual labour of surgery as “physical courage” (Doyle ).…”

Section: Penises As Body Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stemming from the Cartesian split between the rational, masculine mind and the corporeal, feminine – to use Doyle's () term – “raw material” of human bodies, body image research has traditionally focused on women. This parallels the focus in psychology on abnormality and the way in which the biomedical sciences developed (e.g., epidemiology, anatomy), treating male bodies as the unproblematic, medical norm (Grosz ) and elevating the manual labour of surgery as “physical courage” (Doyle ). As the historian Doyle puts it, “the female body is over‐invested as a site of scientific inquiry and of sexual difference” (ibid., pp.10–11), explaining Sheets‐Johnstone's observation that the “male body is not anatomized nor is it ever made into an object of study” (Sheets‐Johnstone , p.69).…”

Section: Penises As Body Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

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Hidden, visceral and traumatic: a dramaturgical approach to men talking about their penis after surgery for penile cancer

Branney¹,

Witty²

2019

Int Social Sci J

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Drawing upon concepts of expressive equipment and body image, the aim of this study is to explore how men diagnosed and treated for penile cancer construct their penis and its surgical disfigurement (penectomy). Using maximum variation sampling with the intention to acquire the broadest range of experiences of stage of disease and treatment, 27 cisgender men (aged 48–83, x=63) who had surgical treatment consented for their data to be archived for analysis. From a dramaturgical perspective, the constructionist thematic analysis explored direct and indirect talk about the penis after surgery. The analysis showed that through the graphic and sequential narratives of dismemberment revealed, participants constructed a post‐surgery period in which they both wanted and did not want to see their penis. Additionally, participants constructed themselves managing difficult emotions through others and seeing themselves being rejected by a potentially desiring (female) Other. The findings extend research on male genitals by showing how the post‐surgery penis can function as something hidden but visceral and traumatic when revealed. Importantly, this paper illustrates body image as expressive equipment where body and identity are formed in the image of manhood, which is an intersubjective (sexual) object between self and other.

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Section: Penises As Body Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Penises As Body Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden, visceral and traumatic: a dramaturgical approach to men talking about their penis after surgery for penile cancer

Branney¹,

Witty²

2019

Int Social Sci J

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“…Body image offers a potentially complementary approach to thinking about penises. 1 Stemming from the Cartesian split between the rational, masculine mind and the corporeal, feminine -to use Doyle's (2008) term -"raw material" of human bodies, body image research has traditionally focused on women. This parallels the focus in psychology on abnormality and the way in which the biomedical sciences developed (e.g., epidemiology, anatomy), treating male bodies as the unproblematic, medical norm (Grosz 1994) and elevating the manual labour of surgery as "physical courage" (Doyle 2008).…”

Section: Penises As Body Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Stemming from the Cartesian split between the rational, masculine mind and the corporeal, feminine -to use Doyle's (2008) term -"raw material" of human bodies, body image research has traditionally focused on women. This parallels the focus in psychology on abnormality and the way in which the biomedical sciences developed (e.g., epidemiology, anatomy), treating male bodies as the unproblematic, medical norm (Grosz 1994) and elevating the manual labour of surgery as "physical courage" (Doyle 2008). As the historian Doyle puts it, "the female body is over-invested as a site of scientific inquiry and of sexual difference" (ibid., pp.10-11), explaining Sheets-Johnstone's observation that the "male body is not anatomized nor is it ever made into an object of study" (Sheets-Johnstone 1992, p.69).…”

Section: Penises As Body Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden, visceral and traumatic: a dramaturgical approach to men talking about their penis after surgery for penile cancer

Branney¹,

Witty²

2018

Preprint

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Drawing upon concepts of expressive equipment and body image, the aim of this study is to explore how men diagnosed and treated for penile cancer construct their penis and its surgical disfigurement (penectomy). Using maximum variation sampling with the intention to acquire the broadest range of experiences of stage of disease and treatment, 27 cisgender men (aged 48-83, x=63) who had surgical treatment consented for their data to be archived for analysis. From a dramaturgical perspective, the constructionist thematic analysis explored direct and indirect talk about the penis after surgery. The analysis showed that through graphic and sequential narratives of dismemberment revealed, participants constructed a post-surgery period in which they both wanted and did-not-want to see their penis. Additionally, participants constructed themselves managing difficult emotions through others and seeing themselves being rejected by a potentially desiring (female) Other. The findings extend research on male genitals by showing how the post-surgery penis can function as something hidden but visceral and traumatic when revealed. Importantly, this paper illustrates body image as expressive equipment where body and identity are formed in the image of manhood, which is an intersubjective (sexual) object between self and other.

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“…Such norms, then, not only shape our understandings of female embodiment; they may also, especially when enacted through medical practices, materially shape bodies inasmuch as bodies, through medical interventions, often are altered to align with that which, for example, is considered statistically normal and/or ideal (see, e.g., Connell, 1999;Doyle, 2008;Dull and West, 1991;Sandell, 2001).…”

Section: Feminist Explorations Of Female Embodimentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ambivalent Ambiguity? : A study of how women with 'atypical' sex development make sense of female embodiment

Guntram¹

2014

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The Spectre of the Scalpel: The Historical Role of Surgery and Anatomy in Conceptions of Embodiment

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

Hidden, visceral and traumatic: a dramaturgical approach to men talking about their penis after surgery for penile cancer

Hidden, visceral and traumatic: a dramaturgical approach to men talking about their penis after surgery for penile cancer

Hidden, visceral and traumatic: a dramaturgical approach to men talking about their penis after surgery for penile cancer

Ambivalent Ambiguity? : A study of how women with 'atypical' sex development make sense of female embodiment

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