| Titel: | Beyond Words: Girls' Bodyself |
|---|---|
| Autor: | Margolin, Indrani |
| Mediengruppe: | dissertation |
| Herausgeber: | --- |
| Zeitschrift: | Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Jahr: | 2010 |
| Band: | 70 |
| Heft: | --- |
| Seiten: | --- |
| Sprache: | English |
| Abstract: | Many girls live under the surveillance of oppressive gendered dominant discourses that dictate they be thin, white, blonde, and submissive. These systems of control are seeped into their school, family, and social contexts so intensely that they internalize these notions and begin to relate to the bodyself in a critical, objectifying, and segregating manner. Preoccupation with their body weight, shape, and size becomes part of their daily self-concept. Girls also still suffer the patriarchal notion that femininity requires constant self-sacrifice for other as well as sexual constraints. These destructive systems of thought cause girls to compete and torment one another, hate themselves, and turn to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate. A fracturing of self occurs to the point that they cannot feel their desires, trust their thoughts, or experience their lives embodied. This research addresses this issue by offering girls an alternate space to re-harmonize the fragmented aspects of body and soul. Using an after school workshop for girls 16 to 18 years old, in which they engaged in creative dance, reflection, and meditation, I sought to inquire into the impact creative dance had on their bodyself experience, perception, and identity. My research used arts-based methodology. I structured this dissertation as a dance performance, infused dance metaphors into the writing, and weaved poetry and life notes throughout to give the girls voice and call attention to the power of dance and the bodyself. Dancing alone and together, girls in this research project experienced an inner authority to guide their gestures and forms. They felt bodylove rather than bodyloathing. They were seen and heard authentically by their female peers and made spiritual connections for the first time. Reflective conversations enabled girls to articulate their movement experiences in light of their critical high school contexts. They empowered themselves to resist oppressive discourses and went beyond words to embrace the bodyself through connection and creative dance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) |