Conclusion: Beyond the Body …

Abstract

The all-pervasive influence of media depictions of photoshopped women’s bodies, presenting an idealised ‘Western’ shape as ‘the real woman’ has steered commodification of women’s bodies to new heights. Jocelynne Scutt draws on research finding that pornographic representations of women are implicated, alongside the modelling and fashion industries. Visions of how women should look, the appearance of our external body parts and the shape of our features, are embedded within women’s and men’s psyche, reflecting the demand that catwalk and photographic models starve or stick to minimalist diets to maintain child-like and young teenaged bodies on grown women. Television and film play their part, whilst the Covid-19 move to online meetings for business as well as companionable communication through Zoom and similar programmes brings women’s own bodies into sharp relief. Consumer protection laws, negligence actions and criminal laws governing body modification and genital mutilation may provide some avenue of redress and limitation on the ever-widening scope of the aesthetic, cosmetic and plastic surgery industry in manipulating women’s bodies. Universal regulation of the beauty industry and its myriad workers engaged in plum**, waxing, threading, injecting and shaving women’s bodies into plastic reproductions of themselves is becoming more likely. Yet ultimately it is women who will resist this production and servicing, which treats women as palettes to be worked upon by experts schooled in the production of women—not just women’s bodies—as if they know best what is a woman and how a woman should look. Jocelynne Scutt observes that some women are fighting back. Some have had implants removed, and some promote Our Bodies Our Selves as the way forward. Whether women can recover a vision celebrating the real bodies of real women is the question. With procedures invading every part of our bodies, this question is important, the answer is vital.