2009 CONFERENCE OF THE lNTERNATlONAL COMMUNlCATlON

ASSOClATlON
GAY, LESBlAN, BlSEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER STUDlES
Key words: Body, dentty, representaton,
embodment/dsembodment, consumpton, space
Ths paper ams to anayse how soca-cutura dscourses are
nscrbed n and transformed by our bodes and our body practces,
and how dscourses on hegemony and resstance become emboded
and potc. Bodes, as locus where dscourses and counterdscourses
cross and are nscrbed, are aso dynamc nstances where persona
tnerares (Esteban, 2004) and partcuar narratves are deveoped.
In partcuar, through bodes we am to anayse etc and emc soca
dscourses on such aspects as sexua and gender dmorphsm,
denttes, sexua practce and desre, sexua dssdence, power,
deoogy and transgresson. By consderng ntersectons between
bodes, deoogy, sexuaty, dentty, gender and consumpton, we
want to provde a crtca approach to the hstorca and cutura
conformaton of the sex/gender/ sexua practce system and approach
the body from a persona, a soca and a potca perspectve. We w
aso take nto account the processes of commodfcaton of bodes.
The anayss, based n ntensve fedwork carred out n three Spansh
ctes, of expcty sexuazed paces -bascay the gay scene- and the
representatona strateges dspayed n the Spansh Gay Parades
(dentty potcs) are prveged feds for studyng how, partng from
the so-caed sexua orentaton, persona and soca denttes are -
and have hstorcay been- deepy emboded. Bodes then become
fronters, mts, symboc locus that ncorporate compex denttes
and dscursve practces, persona and potca. Identtes and
dscourses that refer us to fundamenta cassfcatory categores such
as sex, gender, dentty, sexuaty. In Spansh contemporary gay
actvsm, ssues of soca vsbty are fundamenta and vsbty
cannot be understood wthout body presentaton.
In our cutura context, centraty of bnarsm, symboc
correspondence between anatomy/sex/gender and sexua practce
and the effort to estabsh permanent and true denttes postoned
the medca scences n an hegemonc poston to monopose
dscourse on bodes and sexuates n the 19
th
century. However, after
the sxtes (20
th
century), some processes of reappropraton and
resgnfcaton of bodes took pace. The dfferent movements
(femnst, ethnc mnortes, Gay Lberaton, etc.) taked about sexed
and resstant bodes n contro of ther re-presentatons. Therefore,
the study of gay narratves and tnerares can be a good settng for
understandng those processes. Body s centra to gay defnton, and
n gay socabty t can be seen as an ob|ect of consumpton. It s aso
cruca to the formaton and re-presentaton of denttes medated by
bodes. It s ths formaton and these ways of representaton what we
am to study here.
As an ob|ect of study, the body has been an mportant topc n
anthropoogy snce the 19
th
century, and has become a reevant
sub|ect for socoogy snce the eghtes, when we fnd an enormous
emprca and theoretca producton (see for exampe Turner, 1984;
Le Breton, 1985, Boogne, 1987; Feher, M., Naddaff, R. y Taz N., 1989
et a.). Socoogy has remarked how the body ncreasngy becomes
centra n the conformaton of modern denttes and how a theory of
agency wthout the body s unthnkabe . Shng (1994: 1-8) has
taked about a process of ncreasng ndvduazaton of the body.
The term somatc socety has been created to descrbe how the body
has become an mportant fed for potca and cutura actvty and
for the reaffrmaton of ndvduas n modern soca systems (Turner,
1984:1), apart from becomng as we as a cear pace for and of
consumpton (Baudrard, 1974) . We can tak about an exstng
mutpcty of bodes: the two bodes of the soca and physca
(Dougas, 1966); the three bodes of the ndvdua body, soca body
and body potc (Scheper-Hughes and Lock, 1987) or the fve bodes,
wth the addton of the consumer body and the medca body (ONe,
1985) (n Low, 2003: 11). We w try to consder a of them n our
anayss of gay bodes as fronters n contemporary Span.
Bodes can be read n such a thck sense because t s mposbe to
soate body from the soca systems n whch t s mmersed.
Paradgmatc styes reated to gay bodes (eathermen, fares,
bears) are constructed not ony n reference to sexua practce and
sex, but are aso cosey nked to anatomy, gender and context.
Aternatve denttes based on gender, sex, body, desre, are now
possbe, but are dffcut to understand wthout the reference to the
formaton of soco- hstorca (therefore contngent) sexua categores.
Proud denttes can not be understood wthout reference to the de-
medcazaton and reappropraton processes that emerged n the
sxtes among those prevousy abeed as devants. In the era of
fudty (Bauman) and performance (Buter), sexuaty expressons can
now be read as extremey dverse. Dfferent sexuates do not
necessary mean re-cassfcaton of peope n a new sex-gender-
orentaton system. But denttes are st cosey reated to bodes: as
Turner puts t, we have bodes, we are bodes .
Therefore, bodes nform and are nformed by dfferent confguratons,
as mts n sex and gender defntons, correspondence n sex,
gender, sexua desre and practce have not aways exsted as we
know them now, but have aways been nked to specfc bodes that
have been consdered as expresson and vehce of fx and stabe
denttes, as markers of those denttes. Bodes were centra when
gender and sexuaty were thought as consttutve of sex and
homosexuas were thought as hermaphrodtes (Engand, 18th
century, see Trumbach 1993) They were centra to the defntons of
the frst homosexua movement (Hrschfed and Urchs 1897,
Germany), whch defended that homosexuas were a thrd sex (a
womans sou n a mans body) and they are aso centra to the
duted and performed queer denttes. A gender-based system of
cassfcaton (dstngushng between fares and moes, effemnate
and mascune) evoved nto a sex-based cassfcaton (homo and
heterosexuas, Chauncey, 1994), what shows us that natura nks
between sex, gender and desre have to be questoned and refers us
to performatve styes of thought. Oueer denttes are destabzed
radcay and natura denttes are ressted. Sex s consdered as
constructed (Laqueur, Buter) and denttes are seen as mechansms
of contro (Buter, Foucaut). Fragmented bodes and fragmented
denttes can aso be seen as a refecton of the consumerst
ndvduasm of ate captasm (Martnez Hernaez, 2002).
To tak about sexed and gendered bodes, about sexua dssdency, as
when we consder Intersex, brngs us to centra concepts such as the
dchotomes nature/cuture, truth/ambguty,
essentasm/constructonsm, sexua dmorphsm, symboc
assocaton between sex, gender and sexuaty, emboded n a
partcuar shape that, n the case of ntersex, medca protocos often
consder napproprate because of ts mnaty and therefore n need
of nterventon. The body s presented as natura n the cassc
dchotomy nature/cuture, whereas nowadays the dfferent uses and
transformatons of bodes tak about constructed bodes. Gender has
aso a compex reatonshp wth anatomy, not mmutabe, not cosed.
Indexca eements whch are used to re-present become then centra
for our anayss.
Therefore here I w consder the body as a fronter between at east
two words, experenced and/or magned: that of soca dscourses
and that of emboded desres and expressons of dentty. I w
consder the body as a limen (Van Gennep), as an actve and passve
actor n the processes of bracketing (Goffman) and/ or
commodfcaton that transgressons favour. Bodes w be treated as
actors movng aong sexuazed terrtores (be them pubc or
prvate), as the emboded expressons of competng dscourses on
power and resstance, dentty and deoogy coexst, as paces of
contro and opresson (Foucaut), but aso of agency and resstance.
At the same tme, the gay bodes, n ther mutpcty of
representatons that we w try to copse, can be seen as fronters wth
other bodes: vsbe gay bodes are the fronter between hdden gay
bodes and other sexuazed bodes. They are connected to
geographca and soca fronters. They reate us to physca fronters
and magned fronters (such as the scene), as body sexuazes space
and turn geographca settngs nto soca and symboc paces where
compex dscourses on authentcty and ghettfcaton are
artcuated. Bodes aso speak about the terrtorazaton of sexua
dversty,
In that sense, we part from de Vas (2006) concept of fronter body:
fronter body s the one that moves aong the changng nes of
terrtores. Fronter between n and out dscourse. .. a process n
whch everythng s fronter, n whch the mts of ntegbty,
of rues, of what s thnkabe and concevabe and pronouncabe
are negotated and thus aso the mts of ab|ecton, the
unmagnabe or monstruous... t s a mutdmensona and open
body (de Va 2006: 38) .
A ths compex processes converge n the conformaton of what we
can ca cutura repertores of thnkabe, ntegbe bodes: among
gays, Aaga and Corts (1997) have dentfed three domnant modes
of representaton: the heterosexst (the effemnate); the cassca (the
ephebus); and the hypermascune musced gay. Through our
approach to bodes and dscourses, we pretend to queston these
modes and anayse the exstng cutura repertore that s avaabe
by payng speca attenton to the connecton between embodment,
soca reproducton and resstance. To do so, we w focus on offne
representatons (nteractons n the scene, gay parades) and on onne
repertores. As we have commented, body s centra to gay sef-
defnton and, n ths context, t s a partcuar capta and a soca
product whose vaue of exchange s centra to the organzaton of gay
socabty (Bourdeu).
In onne patforms centered on persona reatonshps, body and
embodyng practces are determnant for our understandng of the
reatons between humans, technooges and soca fe. Departng
from the Goffmanan concept of presentaton of sef, we can
consder that here bodes are consttuted as ob|ects of consumpton,
nterchange and power n settngs where gender dentty s
performed through vsua representatons of the body and textua
descrptons of ones sef. Body representaton can act as an ob|ect
that connects onne and offne experences. We w try to see f we
can draw precse boundares n the ways of cassfcaton of body
trats and how they reate to gender denttes from the assumpton
that there are hegemonc and resstant bodes that contrbute to
stabze and egtmate defnte cutura repertores reated to
dentty, sexuaty and gender. Therefore, we am to anayse the
compex reatonshp between bodes, dscourses, cassfcaton
systems, denttes, soca reproducton, resstance and pay n onne
and offne settngs. Do bodes st express the sef n our fragmented,
fud, goba, captast, compex word?
In sum, we w consder:
1. gay bodes as producton, as a constructon throughout hstory
from a soca and cutura perspectve, consderng everythng reated
to the soca deveopment of the body, the producton of the eements
of dentty, aterty, or gender, takng the body as a ste of deoogca
and boogca producton medated by cuture.
2. bodes as transformaton: beyond the fact that the body s an
hstorca product, throughout ther exstence, bodes are sub|ected to
dverse transformatons. The pubc presentaton of the ndvdua
cannot be understood wthout the conceptons, practces, and
sensatons reatng to the transformatons of bodes.
3. the uses of the body: provded that there s no natura behavor
of the body, the makng of the soca ndvdua mpes the precse
tranng n body technques, n partcuar n gay contexts. Body then
becomes an nstrument for sef-expresson through the use of vared
body technques that must be earned for specfc purposes n the
most dverse ambts of day fe and n rtuazed behavor.
4. representatons of the body: the body tsef may be understood as
a dscourse, as an nstrument or weapon of domestcaton and
dscpne, dentty, sub|ecton, and resstance. To speak of the body n
soca dscourse means to anayse ts pace n beef systems, n soca
and potca practces, and n symboc systems. Bodes as texts, as
symbos, take us to the dverse soca modes of the representaton
and to fnd out how they are artcuated and transmtted.
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