Visibility and being seen to be there matters in contemporary society. This book explores the politics of looking and being seen, and suggests new ways of understanding the gaze as relational and embodied. It uses a variety of examples; from sport, with its distinction between the authenticity of the real fan who is there in the flesh and the spectator who watches online or on television; from film and theatre; and from the sexualized images of popular culture. In doing so, it explores the relationship between enfleshed selves, cultural forms and the inner world of feelings, which can sometimes take you out of time and into 'the zone'. Is being present in the flesh more important, and more real, than looking at a distance? What is the relationship between the actual and the virtual? The book grapples with these questions, concluding that, just as women are very visible but lack the power to influence how they are seen, you can be there but still be invisible.
| Acknowledgements |
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viii | |
|
1 Introduction: Are You Really There? |
|
|
1 | (23) |
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2 Being There and the Culture of Boxing |
|
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24 | (16) |
|
3 The Gaze: Looking at You Looking at Me |
|
|
40 | (18) |
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4 Sex Gender and Sexuality in Virtual and Actual Space |
|
|
58 | (22) |
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5 Public and Private Spaces and Relationships |
|
|
80 | (16) |
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6 Looking and Seeing: Bodies and Images |
|
|
96 | (15) |
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7 Being There in the Zone: Sex Gender and In/Visibility |
|
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111 | (18) |
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8 Rethinking Affect, Sensation and Perception |
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129 | (15) |
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|
|
144 | (10) |
| References |
|
154 | (13) |
| Index |
|
167 | |
Kath Woodward is Professor of Sociology and Head of Department in the Sociology Department at the Open University, UK. Her interests bring together feminist theory, gender studies and sport. She is author of Boxing, Masculinity and Identity, Social Sciences: The Big Issues, Why Feminism Matters, Embodied Sporting Practices, and Sex, Power and the Games.
