Social media, beauty standards and the discriminatory bias in body transformation practices: a commentary on why posthuman thinking matters
Abstract
In “We post-humans: from genesis to freedom”, Pussetti critically reflects on the meaning of what we can understand today as “human” following, in particular, the growing use of medical biotechnologies (such as endocrinology, genetic engineering, cosmetic surgery, and dermatology) for betterment purposes. While the history of the human species has always been accompanied by practices of body transformation due to humans’ inherent aspiration and tension to construct, alter and improve their own selves, the contemporary proliferation of less invasive and low-cost cosmetic procedures has provided us incredible chances of transform-ability and new opportunities of “molding” the body we would like to have. Drawing from Remotti’s1 concept of anthropo-poiesis, which indicates the various processes of self-construction of the individual particularly from the point of view of body modification, Pussetti argue that we are actively engaged in a continuous process of self-construction thanks to socialization, acculturation, and our deliberate practices of body modifications. A feeling of incompleteness spurs our imagination and drives us to creatively explore new ways of being and aspire to ideals we are encouraged to meet, responding to the economic demands and socio-cultural expectations of the society we live in. Taken in a dialogical relationship, we alter our body and self in a continuous process of adaptation to, reinvention of, and resistance to the world around us. The idea according to which we have always been posthuman - not only because of our intimate and mutual relationship with our non-human others but first and foremost because we are always moving towards a future vision of ourselves - is not new.
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Deba es
The pe ec ion indus y: human o pos -human?
discussion
In “We pos -humans: om genesis o eedom”, Pusse i c i ically e lec s on he meaning o
wha we can unde s and oday as “human” ollowing, in pa icula , he g owing use o medical
bio echnologies (such as endoc inology, gene ic enginee ing, cosme ic su ge y, and de ma ology)
o be e men pu poses. While he his o y o he human species has always been accompanied
by p ac ices o body ans o ma ion due o humans’ inhe en aspi a ion and ension o
cons uc , al e and imp o e hei own sel es, he con empo a y p oli e a ion o less in asi e and
low-cos cosme ic p ocedu es has p o ided us inc edible chances o ans o m-abili y and new
oppo uni ies o “molding” he body we would like o ha e. D awing om Remo i’s1 concep
o an h opo-poiesis, which indica es he a ious p ocesses o sel -cons uc ion o he indi idual
pa icula ly om he poin o iew o body modi ica ion, Pusse i a gue ha we a e ac i ely
engaged in a con inuous p ocess o sel -cons uc ion hanks o socializa ion, accul u a ion,
and ou delibe a e p ac ices o body modi ica ions. A eeling o incomple eness spu s
(a) Ins i u o de Ciências Sociais,
Uni e sidade de Lisboa.
A enida P o esso Aníbal
de Be encou , 9, 1600-189.
Lisboa, Po ugal.
Social media, beau y s anda ds and he disc imina o y
bias in body ans o ma ion p ac ices: a commen a y
on why pos human hinking ma e s
Mídias sociais, pad ões de beleza e o iés disc imina ó io nas p á icas de
ans o mação co po al: um comen á io sob e a impo ância do pensamen o
pós-humano
Las edes sociales, los es ánda es de belleza y el sesgo disc imina o io en
las p ác icas de ans o mación co po al: un comen a io sob e po qué es
impo an e el pensamien o pos humano
Ma ia Conce a Lo Bosco(a)
<[email p o ec ed]>
Lo Bosco MC. Social media, beau y s anda ds and he disc imina o y bias in body ans o ma ion p ac ices: a
commen a y on why pos human hinking ma e s. In e ace (Bo uca u). 2021; 25: e210155
h ps://doi.o g/10.1590/in e ace.210155
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ou imagina ion and d i es us o c ea i ely explo e new ways o being and aspi e o ideals
we a e encou aged o mee , esponding o he economic demands and socio-cul u al
expec a ions o he socie y we li e in. Taken in a dialogical ela ionship, we al e ou body
and sel in a con inuous p ocess o adap a ion o, ein en ion o , and esis ance o he
wo ld a ound us. The idea acco ding o which we ha e always been pos human - no only
because o ou in ima e and mu ual ela ionship wi h ou non-human o he s bu i s and
o emos because we a e always mo ing owa ds a u u e ision o ou sel es - is no new2.
Pusse i’s o iginal con ibu ion lies in he ocus on he biopoli ical and social
implica ions o cosme ic p ocedu es in p ac ices o sel - ans o ma ion and body
modi ica ion, and he ole o social media applica ions - such as Ins ag am - as media o s
o hegemonic models o beau y, success, compe i i eness, and high-s anda d pe o mance.
These hegemonic ideals inco po a e, p omo e and ein o ce disc imina o y and acialized
bias. In his sense, ou an h opo-poie ic endea o is subjuga ed o ex eme indi idualism
and ma e ialis ic consume ism and i s elos (inhe en pu pose) is o aspi e o a body
image modeled by hegemonic depic ions o beau y and o speci ic li es yles associa ed
wi h he idea o success. E en knowing how ‘pe ec bodies’ on Ins ag am and social
media pla o ms a e o en highly edi ed and manipula ed, we consume a no ma i e and
s anda dized ( isual) beau y cul u e and i s beau y p oduc s and li es yle and equally expose
images o ou bodies o ollowe s, hus u ning ou sel es in o consumable objec s o o he s’
oyeu is ic gaze. Indi idualism, na cissism, pe ec ionism: hey a e all igu es o loneliness.
The dialogical o he he e is missing. Socializa ion has boiled down o i s digi al semblance.
Acco ding o Pusse i3 a new “homo plas icus” eme ges:
Homo plas icus is a “ ans o me ”, a phenomenon in p og ess, changing and
cons an ly adap ing o he expec a ions and demands o he public, which
ci cula es in an ambi alen space be ween he impossible ideal image and he
conc e e body; he syn he ic and he soma ic, he illusion and he eali y, he
an asy and he desi e, he objec o consump ion and he consuming subjec ,
he i ual and he eal, he public and he p i a e. (p. 11, ansla ion is mine)
Since he so-called digi al e olu ion, which began in he la e hal o he 20 h cen u y
and con inues o he p esen day, ou daily li e is ex ensi ely a ec ed by and in e wined
wi h i ual eali y. The cul u e ha his la e con eys can inco po a e iolen and
disc imina o y alues - such as acialized beau y ideal ha p e e ence Eu ocen ic
ea u es o e ha o A ocen ic ea u es, body commodi ica ion, ideals o pe ec ion and
pe sonal success - ha can be uly de imen al o ou well-being.
Bu how he body design ma ke (such as plas ic su ge y o ins ance) mobilizes
a acialized ‘beau y my h’ and how his la e ep esen s a key ope in Po uguese
na ional iden i y, conside ing i s colonial his o y? The ex o e looks some e e ences
ha discussed he mo al dimension o beau y and ha could ha e en iched he deba e
in a compa a i e pe spec i e. Fo ins ance, Edmonds and Leem4 ha e discussed how
ace has been enac ed di e en ly in he h ee na ional con ex s wi h la ge cosme ic
su ge y ma ke s ( he US, Ko ea, and B azil) acco ding o he changing poli ics
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o di e ence and beau y ideals. Simila ly, he olume edi ed by Heilbo n5 add esses
how in mode n wes e n socie ies he cons uc ion o he sel (especially o women) has
g a i a ed a ound sexuali y and sensuali y. Equally impo an is he ecen deba e on
he ole played by media in he con ex o e hnic and acial s udies (c . Special issue on
Race and Media published in he E hnic and Racial S udies Jou nal6); media indeed a e
inc easingly in luen ial sys ems o powe and knowledge ha ma e no only o poli ics
and ins i u ions bu also o public cul u e and ecogni ion. I is hen c ucial o add ess
hei ole in shaping public discou ses and deba es abou ace and acism.
The eme gence o social ne wo ks has p o ed hei use ulness inso a as hey ha e
made possible connec ion and communica ion whe e he e was no possibili y o
ace- o- ace in e ac ion and mee ing. Bu hese in e media y de ices ha e also isola ed
ou bodies and subjuga ed hem o ideals o pe ec ion and ela ed discu si e egimes
ha seem a om make us heal hy o happy. Pusse i’s e lec ion does mo e han
ocus on he possible e hical conce ns o ou ela ionship wi h (bio) echnologies and
i s implica ions o humani y; she looks a he eme gence o a wide socio-poli ical
issue: he hegemonic and no ma i e ideals o beau y and pe ec ion cha ac e izing
con empo a y p ac ices o body ans o ma ion and design inco po a e and ep oduce
disc imina o y and acializing concep ualiza ions o bo h body and iden i y. The au ho
hen ad oca es he u gency o add ess he his o ical and socio-cul u al condi ions
unde lying hese high s anda ds o pe o mance and beau y equi ed by ou socie y,
as well as o explo e he biopoli ical and a ec i e dimensions implici in he desi e o
amelio a e de e mina e psychical o beha io al ai s.
I acknowledge he au ho ’s choice o using he no ion o pos human in o de o
show he di e en ex en s o he complexi y o he phenomenon she analyzed; he “pos ”
in pos human indica es i s and o emos an ali e and open no ion o he human
ha canno be paci ied in he language7. Pos human hinking helps us o ecognize
he c ea i e s eng hs o non-no ma i e bodies o acialized subjec s - subjec ed o
endless en a i es o domes ica ion - inso a as i ques ions he cen al and dominan
posi ion ha ce ain p i ileged ca ego ies o humans – man, whi e, Caucasian – ha e
occupied and s ill occupy in he public sphe e. Bo owing Bachela d’s de ini ion
o an h opocen ism as an “epis emological obs acle”8, I a gue ha by p omo ing
a p ede e mined idea o wha a body is o should be, no ma i e concep ualiza ions
o beau y and pe o mance ep ess and silence he dis up i e and c ea i e a ie y o
expe ience o li ing ( h ough) di e en bodies and iden i ies. We li e ou body as he
lieu pa excellence o con inuous p ocesses o ans o ma ion. As he same concep s (and
aspi a ions) o well-being, happiness o be e men a e inc easingly shaped by o ms o
indi idualism, consume ism, and commodi ica ion, we a e now called o ace complex
challenges. Ideals o pe ec ion esponding o no ma i e s anda ds o beau y and
pe o mance could de e mine misleading pa hs o sel - ans o ma ion and lea e humans
wi h a sick elos, one ha eludes any ho izon o sel -ca e and solida i y. Re hinking he
human oday means imagine an e hos in which humans a e commi ed in a con inuous
exe cise o go beyond hei indi idualis ic pu poses and emb ace communi y and
solida i y alues. The e o e, i is necessa y o e lec and ely on ou an h opo-poie ic
abili y o c ea e new sha ed models o collec i e alues and c i ically con on and
anscend he social, poli ical, and economic o ces o ou hegemonic ision o socie y.
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Con lic o in e es
The au ho has no con lic o in e es o decla e.
Copy igh
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In e na ional License, BY ype (h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en).
Edi o
An onio Pi hon Cy ino
Submi ed on
03/01/21
App o ed on
04/12/21
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