All the Ways .. (Essay‪)‬

Abstract 'all the ways ...' was written for a Women's Studies module--'Identity, Difference and the Body'. This module explored feminist perspectives on the nature/culture divide and the production of sexed, gendered and raced bodies, and surveyed a range of different feminist analytical approaches to the body, including postmodern, phenomenological, Black feminist and postcolonial perspectives. It considered the construction of sex, gender and sexuality through different cultural and social practices which take the body as their principal focus, and examined a variety of case studies such as: body image and norms of femininity; food, dieting and eating disorders; body modification; body adornment. The unit also considered feminist analyses of medical, scientific and technological discourses and practices aimed at the female body, including scientific representations of the body, cyborg bodies, and constructions of disability. My essay is a creative exploration of the female/feminine body, drawing on the style of French feminist thinker Luce Irigaray. The intention of the essay is to incorporate elements of all the material covered in the module, using my own understanding and interpretation ... I picked a creative assignment because I wanted to take the opportunity to explore a different aspect of academic writing. It is the first piece of creative work that I have written for many years, and I found the assignment both challenging and very enjoyable.