Abstract
What do yoga, media literacy training, and community support all have in common? They are factors in three domains that Niva Piran identifies as important in determining the extent to which girls and women will experience embodiment. In her recent book, Piran expansively defines the experience of embodiment (EE), incorporating such concepts as feeling connected to the body, focusing on how one’s body functions instead of what it looks like, and engaging in body self-care. She then outlines her developmental theory of embodiment (DTE) explaining how experiences in the physical domain, the mental domain, and in the domain of social power influence girls’ and women’s EE. She provides examples of societal phenomena that can promote and restrict EE in each domain. For example, a girl who engages in pleasurable physical activity with her body, who is able to critique potentially damaging societal messages about the body, and who is in a social position where she is free from harassment, is more likely to experience embodiment than a girl whose physical activity is constricted, who is exposed to objectification that she internalizes, and who has limited social support.
The DTE offers the most comprehensive explanation of female body experiences that I have encountered. It is feminist, connecting girls’ and women’s experiences to the patriarchal social structure. Further, it was developed from a constructivist approach incorporating responses from interviews (some longitudinal), focus groups, and surveys. In the interviews, girls and women described their “body journey,” the way they have felt about their bodies from their earliest memories to the present, incorporating reflection on the influence of social factors. Body journey responses are included throughout the book, which elucidate theoretical constructs.
The developmental framework of the book is consistent with the nature of the theory. After describing the theory, Piran provides a chapter on girlhood, followed by one on tween girls, early adolescents, late adolescents, and adults. In each of these chapters, she explains how factors in each domain exert influence. We learn that while many girls start out feeling embodied in childhood, this is likely to change as they go through puberty. The picture is most bleak for tween girls and early adolescents. By late adolescence, some girls have developed more supportive connections with others and, by adulthood, there are many women who have been able to overcome negative societal influences.
We can learn much from the experiences of the girls and women described in this book. In the last chapter, Piran discusses applications of the DTE. The theory has already helped inform therapy and can be applied by parents and educators to help individual girls. For example, providing physical activities to girls (that are free from objectification and harassment), comprehensive sex education, and support groups represent important applications. The experience of recounting the body journey seemed to offer valuable insights to the girls and women, such that reflecting on childhood experiences sometimes led directly to changed thoughts and behaviors. As a feminist theory, the implications of the DTE are much broader, and it becomes clear how much our culture needs treatment. Piran uses an intersectional lens throughout the book, and this framework reveals how the situation is even worse for those with low social power. Although the persistent gender inequality that is explored in the book might make it seem like a daunting read, the stories of the girls and women are engaging and inspiring, and Piran’s developmental theory of embodiment offers many ideas to motivate individual and social change. I recommend this book with enthusiasm to anyone interested in a comprehensive feminist view of societal influences on girls’ and women’s body experiences.