The Kirkland Project for the Study of Gender, Society and Culture's "The Body in Question" series continues with a "Body Images" panel, on Friday, Jan. 25 at 3:30 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn at Hamilton College.
Lynne Luciano, assistant professor of history at California State University at Dominiguez Hills, will discuss"Remaking Male Bodies: The Defeminization of Cosmetic Surgery in Modern America." Traditionally, American men have derived power and personal attractiveness from their behavior and accomplishments rather than from physical appearance. As a result of social and cultural changes in postwar America, growing numbers of men entered the beauty trap once reserved for women. Millions of men have abandoned long-standing fears about vanity (and, by extension, feminization) and pursued an array of self-beautification strategies, of which perhaps the most intriguing has been their pursuit of physical perfection through the scalpel. By the mid-1990s, the bill for male cosmetic surgery was $500 and rising, with men comprising nearly a quarter of cosmetic surgery patients by the end of the decade. Luciano is the author of Looking Good: Male Body Image in America (2000, Hill and Wang).
Karen L. Smith MSS, LSW, a clinical social worker at the Renfrew Center, a national women's mental health facility specializing in eating disorders, will discuss "The Politics of Hunger."
From dieting to disorders, this talk will explore body hatred and shame of hunger driving today's epidemic of eating disorders and leaving in its path many who are generally dissatisfied with their bodies and judge their hunger. We will critically analyze the current American cultural message of beauty in the self-depriving anorexic and what it suggest about the state of womanhood. Smith speaks nationally on the topics of eating disorders, body image, sexuality and gender, and maintains a private practice in Philadelphia.
Jan P. Fisher MA, NCC, CCMHC, a staff counselor in the Counseling and Psychological Services office at Hamilton, will discuss "Body Image: The Hamilton Connection."
She also has a private psychotherapy/counseling practice locally. Fisher has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders in both women and men for more than 20 years.
The panel will be moderated by Mark Thompson, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, Colgate University. This program is co-sponsored by Student Health Services and Counseling and Psychological Sevices. For more information, please contact the Kirkland Project office at 859-4288.
