Wakewich, Pamela (2000) Contours of everyday life : reflections on embodiment and health over the life course. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This study explores lay perceptions of embodiment and health through the
narratives ofa group of 'everyday' women and men in a Canadian community.
Gender, class and cultural influences on individual and collective experiences of
embodiment are examined along with the ways in which these concepts evolve over the
life course. The research is based on in depth interviews with a sample of forty
working- and middle-class white women and men between the ages of30 and 65.
I argue that notions of embodiment and health are multiple, fluid and
contextual. They are shaped and reshaped over time in relation to individual
biographies and social and cultural influences, and negotiated in relation to the
prescribed values of the larger body politic. I suggest that research must attend to the
spatial and temporal dimension of ideas about embodiment and health. In the context
of this case study, I argue that everyday ideas about regional identity are enmeshed
with the cultural codes which signify racial, class and gender identity. These frame
peoples' understandings and representations of 'healthy selves' and 'unhealthy others'
and are central to their notions of embodiment.

Based on these findings, I propose a more nuanced approach to theorizing 'the
body' and health in feminist and sociological theory. I argue for a closer engagement
between theoretical frameworks and empirical studies with the aim of developing a
more fully embodied social theory.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Health surveys -- Canada, Health status indicators -- Canada, Public health -- Methodology, Social indicators -- Canada, Feminism -- Canada, Culture -- Study and teaching -- Canada
Official Date:	January 2000
Dates:	Date Event January 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Wolkowitz, Carol ; Annandale, Ellen
Sponsors:	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ; Higher Education Funding Council for England ; Lakehead University
Extent:	vi, 274 leaves
Language:	eng

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