What Is ‘Body Work’? A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Lyon and Barbalet (1994), Kang (2003), Wolkowitz (2002, 2006), and others have proposed the concept of ‘body work’ as a means for further developing the sociology of the body. This article gives an overview of the different (although frequently overlapping) forms of body work that have been identified in the sociological literature. These include a notion of body work as (i) the work performed on one's own body, (ii) paid labor carried out on the bodies of others, (iii) the management of embodied emotional experience and display, and (iv) the production or modification of bodies through work. The article concludes with suggestions for the future of research on body work and the sociology of the body.

Time, Space and Touch at Work: Body Work and Labour Process (Re)Organisation

“…The paper begins, however, by proposing a working definition of body work, and introducing the concept of 'body labour'. Body work has been used to describe paid work on the body of another Wolkowitz 2002;Twigg 2006;Wolkowitz 2006;Gimlin 2007). In this article, however, I follow Kang (2010), and by 'body work' refer to all work on the body of another, reserving 'body labour' for body work that is sold for a wage or commodified.…”

“…Conversely, sociological analysis of the sick or medical body has paid little heed to the structural organisation and reorganisation of paid work on the body. This article suggests that conceptualizing health and social care work as 'body work' Wolkowitz 2002;Twigg 2006;Wolkowitz 2006;Gimlin 2007) enables us to bridge that gap. In so doing it also provides a lens through which to compare work in health and social care with work in other sectors.…”

The Body/Sex/Work Nexus: A Critical Perspective on Body Work and Sex Work

“…Despite the centrality of embodiment to the labour process-and the incorporation of embodied experience in many ethnographies of work -the dominant tendency hitherto had been to understand the body as a biological constant, which can be bracketed away. Conversely work was understood as impersonal activity, with bodies, emotion, sexuality and even one's physical attractiveness restricted to the province of private, family life and associated with women rather than men (Gimlin 2007). …”

“…Conceptualising 'body work' as work on others' bodies, and not simply physical and cultural work on one's own body, which was its earlier usage (Shilling 2005, Gimlin 2007, recognises the incorporation of body work (and sex work) within market relationships, and emphasises the role of paid workers in social reproduction. Concretely, body work is typically found in health and social care, aesthetic services, for instance beauty work, sex work and protective and security services, for example nightclub bouncers or airport security personnel, who police and control bodies.…”

“…The focus on the intimate, embodied and sexualised labour that occurs within body/sex work is part of a new trend toward recognising the embodiment of labour and that the body, emotions, and sexuality are sites of commodification (Wolkowitz 2006;Witz et al 2003;Gimlin 2007;Hassard et al 2000;Hochschild 1983Hochschild , 2003Otis 2011;Hardy et al 2011). The embodiment of occupational cultures and organisational practices has probably been documented most thoroughly by research on medical, nursing and social care (for instance Lawler 1991;Twigg 2006;Twigg, et al (eds) 2011).…”