Thoughts on Fat and Fashion

Just now I was reading the article 'Fat is a humanist issue' by Marianne Kirby over at Comment is Free in the Guardian (don't read the comments). It made me think about the role of fashion for fat women, and yes here I'm referring to what Kirby describes as the 'marginally fat' (I imagine this means those that struggle to fit into mainstream shopping sizes - even a size 14 can be plagued by this phenomenon). This led me to ponder whether fashion blogs such as What Katie Wore, where a photo is taken of a slender woman (probably size 8) in a different outfit everyday, would a similar blog be as popular if it was someone that was a size 16? size 20? size 24? size 28? Or is it that she has such a slender figure that makes us so excited by the blog? Would such a blog be possible if it were by the fatter woman? You know what, I'd like to see a fat woman try a similar project - wear a different outfit everyday for a year. I mean it'd be amazing if they could catch the interest of designers etc.

A girl can dream... I don't think I'd be brave enough to tackle such a project or willing to spend that much on clothes but I'd love to see it exist somewhere. Perhaps in time...

I'm joining InAdWriMo 2009!!

Ok thanks to Alice Academic's post that I read this morning, I've decided to join in the challenge of InAdWriMo. It is the academic alternative to NaNoWriMo (Aim: write a 50,000 word novel in a month), which was started by Fumbling Towards Geekdom in 2006.

The aims are as follows:

• Write as much as you can and get those niggling projects finished at least in the rough draft version.
• Post a word count progress bar on your blog
• Write about your progress on your blog
• Register at this post so you can receive moral support from your fellow academic writers.

I'm going to use this as inspiration to help me complete the following tasks:

• write more on my dissertation (7,000)
• write progress review documents (2,000)
• write my conference paper to present end of next week (3,000)
• write a shitty first draft of my book chapter (8,000)

Well I'm going in to start some of this writing and hoping that I can think through my fingers! Best of luck to any of the rest of you who are participating in InAdWriMo 2009 (and to those other academic dissertation writers)!!

Word of the Day

Lubricity (noun) - feeling morbid sexual desire or a propensity to lewdness

I'm not sure when (if ever) I will use this word but it struck me as unusual and interesting, so I wanted to record the time that I first came upon it.

Apologies for the lack of posts, I've been rather lost in my own world.

Inspirational Quotation

'If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it? The game is worthwhile in so far as we don't know what will be the end.'

Michel Foucault

This quotation is giving me to write everyday even when I'm not sure what to write about, as by writing I'm discovering what I want to argue, to read and how to piece things together. It feels exciting. My current goals are to write a minimum of 500 words a day (though it is often more than that).

I will update shortly on my developing thoughts on genealogy and its usefulness for my project, as that has been the main focus of my daily writings for the past day or two.

Genealogy

I have been seeking the cohesive thread of my PhD through writing, playing and exploring. The idea I have latched upon is to create a genealogy of ideas, texts and films that examine, represent and explore female masochism. So far, so good. But then the questions start.

What does genealogy mean generally?

It makes me think of family trees. The idea of a line of descent that is traced continuously from an ancestor through to more contemporary texts.

How do I hope to use it? How will it benefit me?

I want to examine the genealogy of discourses surrounding female masochism. By this, I mean that I want to see how the varying arguments fit together, how texts (I am using this in the broadest possible sense to refer to theoretical works, medical ideas and other cultural products) influence one another, and whether it is possible to trace some kind of genealogy. Or would using the term 'history' be more useful?

I am going to finish this post with some questions because that is where my head is at at the moment.

• What is the difference between a history of discourses on x and a genealogy of discourses on x?
• Is the concept of a genealogy useful?
• Which theorists should I use if looking into this idea of genealogy, as a way of referring to the influence and cross referencing that occurs between texts?
• Does self-awareness that a text belongs to a specific discourse suggest that it is possible to trace its genealogy?

If anyone has any thoughts on any of these issues, I would be interested to read your comments.

Sleep

It is vital for our well being and to ensure that we can go about our daily activities. It helps improve memory, process emotions and allows our bodies to repair themselves. But it is not always so simple to achieve just the right amount of sleep.

'A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.' Charlotte Brontë

I'm sure most of us have experienced this at some point or another. Those long nights where thoughts continue to whirl around your mind long after being snuggled down under the covers. Now there are many places that will tell you to only use a bed for sleep or sex, and whilst I believe these are important where's the reading? To me being in bed with a good book is wondrous. I find losing myself in another world, ideally a fictional one that is several steps removed from my academic work, can soothe my mind so that sleep descends upon it. I couldn't count the number of times that I wake up with my hand still holding the book open on the right page and the light on. This is why I'd recommend investing in a good long-life bulb for the bedside lamp.

What about too much sleep? Those nights where you awake for a few moments just to plunge back into another dream. Nothing seems to rouse you for very long. Your own world is the most seductive. These are not 8 hour sleep nights but ones where it's 12, 15 or sometimes even 24 hours out of 30 (the latter is usually from some kind of illness). It's as though your body will not permit you to do anything other than dream. I find these days confusing because when it comes around to bedtime there is rarely any difficulty in going back to sleep again. These sleeps are vital for healing, comfort and restoration in a time of crisis or transition. This aspect brings me to Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's book Madeline is Sleeping that is a dream-like book of sexual awakening, coming of age and a girl Madeline who has been asleep for a long time reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty. I will discuss this in more depth another day, but for now I will leave you with part of the opening fragment of the book:

'hush

HUSH, MOTHER SAYS. Madeline is sleeping. She is so beautiful when she sleeps, I do not want to wake her.

The small sisters and brothers creep about the bed, their gestures of silence becoming magnified and languorous, fingers floating to pursed lips, tip toes rising and descending as if weightless. Circling about her bed, their frantic activity slows; they are like tiny insects suspended in sap, kicking dreamily before they crystallize into amber. Together they inhale softly and the room fills with one endless exhalation of breath: Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.'

Madeline is Sleeping, p. 1

Welcome to Corporealities

What is the aim of this blog?

I am a first-year PhD student working in the field of Sexuality and Gender Studies. I want to use this blog as a playground, an interactive notebook and as a way to help allay my nerves about writing for an audience. As such unlike the remit of my PhD, Corporealities will not have a narrow focus but is rather a place for me to test out ideas, find new ways of expression and write about those books, films and ephemera that seize my imagination.

Why is this blog called 'Corporealities'?

It embraces the idea that one only conceive of ideas from a state of embodiment. This notion draws together my main research interests, which include: representing the sexual body, non-normative sexualities, different relationship practices, body image, the fat body, food, cooking and clothing.

It also suggests different ways of relating to 'reality'. There are multiple realities. We each have our own interpretation and sense of 'reality' that can vary moment to moment. I am interested in those transitional moments - the in-between spaces - where someone is neither asleep nor awake, particularly dreams.

Why have I started this blog now?

Since I started my PhD 10 months ago, I have been thinking of starting a blog along similar lines to Corporealities, though I kept finding excuses about why it wouldn't be a good idea. Yesterday I read Hugh McGuire's article on 'Why Academics Should Blog (redux)' and thought why not. I want to improve my ideas, practice my writing skills in a less rigid form and write about topics that are not always appropriate or relevant for my thesis. So thank you Hugh McGuire, you've inspired at least one fledgling academic to follow your advice.

Happy reading and may this blog see me through to at least the end of my PhD.