Self-Transformations: Foucault, Ethics, and Normalized Bodies

by Cressida J. Heyes

Heyes' monograph in feminist philosophy is on the connection between the idea of "normalization"--which per Foucault is a mode or force of control that homogenizes a population--and the gendered body. Drawing on Foucault and Wittgenstein, she argues that the predominant picture of the self--a picture that presupposes an "inner" core of the self that is expressed, accurately or not, by the outer body--obscures the connection between contemporary discourses and practices of self-transformation and the forces of normalization. In other words, pictures of the self can hold us captive when they are being read from the outer self--the body--rather than the inner self, and we can express our inner self by working on our outer body to conform. Articulating this idea with a mix of the theoretical and the practical, she looks at case studies involving transgender people, weight-loss dieting, and cosmetic surgery. Her concluding chapters look at the difficult issue of how to distinguish
non-normalizing practices of the self from normalizing ones, and makes suggestions about how feminists might conceive of subjects as embodied and enmeshed in power relations yet also capable of self-transformation.

The subject of normalization and its relationship to sex/gender is a major one in feminist theory; Heyes' book is unique in her masterful use of Foucault; its clarity, and its sophisticated mix of the theoretical and the anecdotal. It will appeal to feminist philosophers and theorists.

Genres: Philosophy, Feminism, Nonfiction, Psychology

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 2007

Reviews

[Mercury's Widow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super interesting and in-depth book about how and why one's inner self might go about making changes to create a more fitting external self. It focuses on transgender issues, the decision to diet/lose weight and the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery. Heyes brings up a lot of really good points (like "nostalgia for the natural body") that made me seriously reconsider my beliefs and prejudices about beauty when weighed against the value of caring for oneself.

"Dieting discourse elides mastering oneself and caring for oneself, insisting that the controlled and relentlessly self-disciplined persona is also the most ethically responsible, in Foucault's asketic sense." (85)

[Elin · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heyes examines practices like dieting and cosmetic surgery from the perspective of Foucault's notion of ethics as a practice of the self. Rather than take what one might assume is the standard feminist line regarding such practices and reject them as representative of an unrealistic ideal of beauty based on patriarchy, Heyes examines both the promise and danger of dieting and aesthetic surgery for transforming ourselves as ethical subjects.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great look at normalization of the body that goes beyond the standard feminist rejection of dieting and cosmetic surgery. She uses Foucault's work to understand not just the sources of desires to change the body but also why we continue to participate in them. By doing so she attempts to find better ways to appreciate the body than simply denying contemporary beauty ideals.