Lynne Rienner Feminism and the Female Body: Liberating the Amazon within (Gender and Political Theory)

Reclaiming the female body, which historically has been defined and controlled by male scientists, physicians, psychiatrists, and theologians, is one of the most significant agendas of feminist theory. According to Castelnuovo and Guthrie, male control and oppression of female bodies is ultimately rooted in the threat of male violence, whether battering or rape, sexual harassment or the negative stereotyping of physically powerful women. What fuels this threat and the resultant terrorization is the disabling movement vocabulary that is part of being feminine in our culture - vocabulary emphasizing softness, vulnerability, weakness, and fear of injury. The authors challenge the Cartesian emphasis on mind that characterizes much feminist theory, offering instead a perspective that conceives of mind and body as a unity. They examine the construction of terrorized female bodies, how this is affected by age, class, race, and sexual preference, and how women who resent the status quo are developing themselves physically. They conclude by proposing a politics of feminist embodiment in which women use collective ""care of the self"" practices that empower both their bodies and their minds. Extensive interviews with women involved in bodybuilding, self-defense training, and similar activities provide the empirical context of this original theoretical analysis.