Power, as defined by Michel Foucault is a system of social control. It is dispersed everywhere throughout society, integrated into social relationships, embedded in a network of practices, institutions and technologies, operating on the micro-levels of everyday life (Foucault 139). Power can be derived from scientific knowledge and truth, exercised through dominant discourses, the common beliefs and perceptions that the members of a society hold (Crowley and Himmelweit 236). Sexuality is a key focus of power. Through regulations, power subjugates individual bodies and by constructing conceptions of norms and deviance, power makes these norms appear morally justified, creating the desire to conform to these norms. This desire to conform leads people to sustain their own oppression voluntarily, through self-discipline and self-surveillance (Pylypa 24).
In modern society, a feminine body is characterized by having a slender and thin body figure. The pursuit of an ever-changing homogenizing and equivocal idea of femininity requires constant change and modification to the female body. This creates docile bodies, bodies subjected to external regulations, transformations and improvement (Foucault 136). In order to achieve the ideal body, the female body goes through various stringent and homogenizing disciplines through organizing principles of time and space. Such an example is through dieting. Dieting is associated with the tyranny of slenderness by regulating disciplinary practices of an ideal feminine body through self-starvation and controlled appetite (Cherin,1982). Such discipline has led to the prevalence of eating disorders in modern society. In the worst cases, such practices may eventually lead to demolition and death. As such, it is important to study and understand the origin of such social issues and the relationship between power and body.
This essay will highlight the concept of disciplinary power and the ‘docile body’. Substantiated evidence will be provided to further evaluate how power exerts itself in the media industry, creating a discourse of feminine norms. In addition, an overview of the impact of power in modern society will be discussed and analysed.
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2.1 Disciplinary power and Docile bodies
Power is distributed anonymously, subjugating individuals through constant surveillance (Bartky 78). Power is neither an agency nor a structure, it is a kind of ‘regime of truth’ that pervades society. (Foucault 63). In contrast with the sovereign exercise of power operated in democracies when authorities try to control the people, a new kind of ‘disciplinary’ power is used to target individual bodies in the modern society. This new form of power creates a discursive practice of what is normal and acceptable among a society and no longer requires a force of violence as people learn to discipline themselves and behave in an expected manner. Discipline is a mechanism of power, organising time, space and every day’s activities (Foucault 137). Self-surveillance, the act of self-policing one’s behaviour in accordance with the rules, is a part of disciplinary practices.
Physical bodies are subjugated as a microcosm of social control amongst the wider population through disciplinary power, producing ‘docile bodies’ (Foucault 138). Docile body, also known as the obedient body, is defined as a body being subjugated, used, transformed and improved through a regime of disciplinary practices (Foucault 136). Foucault (135) considers soldiers as docile bodies as they are made to adhere to rules and regulations in the army. Through disciplinary practices, soldiers are trained to carry out orders from their superiors. Disciplinary power and docile bodies can also be observed in schools, prisons and hospitals. In modern society, docile bodies can also be within the females. The desire to achieve the ideal feminine body has made the female body subjected to disciplinary power. This is evident through the adoption of practices such as dieting to conform to the ideal slender body.
Dieting is a disciplinary practice widely adopted by the female body. It includes self-starvation and control of appetite to manage one’s body weight and figure. Dieting disciplines the body’s hunger and may lead to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, as a higher percentage of women who regularly diet report problems in eating behaviour than those with no previous dieting experience
