Social Representations of the Body: Theory, Facts and Commentary (Part 1)

Abstract

The aim of the presented study was to identify so called “mute” elements of social representations of the body. The sample consisted of representatives of the BDSM subculture at the age of 19 to 54 years (N=77 people, 40% women). The free association technique was used in order to reveal the social representations of the body. The obtained results indicate that the body (in groups of males and females) is represented through the antimony “man-woman” with the resulting attributes of each pole (“strength”- “beauty”), so the social representations of the body are crystallized around the corresponding elements: beauty - in the key element of the female body in the group of women, strength and muscles are the key elements in case of the male body in the group of men. In each case the normative and idealized representations of the body are revealed. In each case we can speak about normative and idealized representation of the body. The mute zone of the social representation (genital area) suits the logic of the male body vision, if we take into account the analysis of the male body through the prism of cultural history.