Ordinare il corpo secondo misura. L’immaginario femminile pitagorico - Ida BrancaccioOrder the body according to the measure. The definition of the
boundaries of identity in the Pythagorean female imaginary
Starting point of this essay are some texts included in the book of
Holger Thesleff,
The Pythagorean Texts of Hellenistic Period (1965), which
are attributed to women philosophers (whose names are Theano, Melissa,
Periktione, Phintys) and that highlight how important was in ancient
Pythagoreanism not only human bodies generally, but also female bodies. Even
if silence was an high significant value, above all for women, Pythagorean
“women” philosophers talk with us, by their letters and fragments, about the
essential rules to use bodies properly (the right way to dress, comb and make
up, which is the correct behaviour to follow and the healthy nourishment to
eat), giving us the possibility to define their identities boundaries and the social
role they had within and outwardly the
oikos.
Alle origini della chirurgia plastica nei “Libri dei segreti” e nei trattati del XVI secolo - Elena LazzariniThe origins of plastic surgery: practice and standards of
female beauty in the Libri dei segreti and treatises of the sixteenth century
A wide range of Libri dei segreti and treatises on female beauty and
behaviour produced during the XVI century provide accounts regarding
physical alterations, cosmetic treatment and behavioural rules which challenged
conventional views. These sources open up important paths of inquiry and
understanding for anyone concerned with the perception of both female
body and behaviour in daily life in sixteenth-century Italy. It is through these
texts that we can begin to develop a fuller picture of the prominence given to
physical beauty and its connection with the practises that aim to make the body
beautiful following the canons of that time. Passages which deal with female
beauty and behaviour indicate the different ways in which social conventions
and rigid prescriptions contribute to the construction and display of the ideal
female body.
“Designer vagina”: immaginari dell’indecenza o ritorno all’età dell’innocenza? - Michela Fusaschi“Designer vagina” imagery of indecency or return at the
age of innocence?
“Designer vagina” or Female genital cosmetic surgery (Fgcs) procedures
have gained popularity in the West, also in Italy, in recent years and reveals
an interesting anthropological field to understanding the social construction of
gender and sexuality. Designer vagina was framed as enhancing female sexual
pleasure, or specifically orgasm. In this paper I propose a critical itinerary on
the Fgcs and the challenges posed by the idea of body-modification. I argue also
that the focus on female sexual pleasure functions to legitimate and promote the
designer vagina. The surgeries are more dangerous than the glossy advertising
and glowing testimonials suggest because the woman through Ceigf undergoes
irreversible modifications which are not evaluated the consequences on health
and social responsibility.
Plastic Body: la metamorfosi del corpo nell’arte di ORLAN - Beatrice Boldrin e Greta TravagliatiPlastic Body: the metamorphosis of the
body in ORLAN’s art
In this article, we are going to analyse how contemporary art and the
common use of aesthetic surgery have normalized and brought into question
aesthetic norms, gender roles and self-perception. After the experiments of
Body Art in the Sixties, some artists have been doing even extreme and more
provocative investigations on the body, leading to new ethical implications. A
key example of this was the use of plastic surgery in an artistic performance
for the first time in 1990 by French artist ORLAN, which was perceived as
outrageous at the time. Analysing her use of plastic surgery in art and, at
the same time, the contemporary wide use of aesthetic surgery in different
social classes we query if these technical progresses free ourselves from the
constraints of nature or, on the contrary, enslave us to an unreachable idea
of beauty. What about the intrinsic fragility and diversity of the embodied
condition of our humanity?
Naso e libertà. L’ossessione per la rinoplastica nell’Iran contemporaneo - Anna VanzanNose and Freedom. The Nose Job Obsession in the Islamic
Republic of Iran
Rhinoplasty rates have been rising dramatically in Iran. Does the nose
job constitute a challenge to the authorities or is it a mere desire to imitate
Western beauty models? Many observers say it is due to the constriction of
the veil that converges the gaze focus on the face, therefore women try to
have it perfect. If this is the case, why do many Iranian men want to have
they nose reshaped as well? The article explores the possible reasons for
this amazing phenomenon and places it in the history of the changes beauty
canons underwent in Iran. It also discusse whether the nose job obsession is
a form of women’s empowerment, or, rather, of the latest example of their
bondage to fashion.
Desideri di bianchezza. La cosmetica depigmentante tra le donne africane in Italia e in Congo - Giovanni VassalloDesires of whiteness. The cosmetic depigmenting among
African women in Italy and Congo
The cosmetic use of skin whitening substances (mercure, hydroquinone,
steroids) by African women has been supported with documentary evidence
in various research works which disclose its health risks. However research
works which deal with social and economic repercussions of the issue have
been reported to a lesser extent. I interpret my study as an attempt to investigate
these aspects which implicate the social building of beauty as a concept and
its representation. The following data have been collected in Italy and the
Congo RDC by means of inspections carried out in Italian ethno-cosmetics
shops, and Congolese markets and by interviewing immigrant women in Italy
as well as both men and women who make use of skin whitening products in
the Congo as well.
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