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BODY AND SOCIAL COGNITIONS
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BODY AND SOCIAL COGNITIONS
Ana María Justo* y Brigido Vizeu Camargo**
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brasil.
Received: April 10th, 2012
Accepted: September 21st, 2012
ABSTRACT
This paper is a literature review about social cognitions and behaviors related to the body. Our goal is to present what
is understood by body in the scope of social psychology, specifically in relation to social representation theory and
phenomenon. In this perspective, the role of socially shared beliefs and values is taken in consideration as well as the
psychological and individual dimensions so to comprehend the conceptions and social functions linked to the body, along
with behaviors related to it. Empirical studies and theoretical essays published in the scientific literature nationally and
internationally were used as a foundation. Social representation theory makes possible an amplified comprehension of the
body and behaviors associated to it. It is known that the body mediates social relations and moreover the body has been
considered over the last decades as a highlight in the media and scientific productions, mirroring the movement of society
in relation to this object and values implicated in it. We are living an important social moment to think about the body, and
the beliefs and cares related to it.
Key words: Bodily Practices, Body, Body Image, Social Representation
Introduction
The body can be defined as a natural organism, a set of
organs that allows the functions necessary for life (Durozoi,
1996). But in addition to its organic nature, the human body
is also characterized by social and individual
representations associated to him. Result of the interaction
of their genetic material with the socio-cultural environment,
the human body is made up of habits that are printed in his
matter by codes, symbols and cultural languages shared in
the environment in which he lives (Andrieu, 2006).
For an object that is located at the border between the
individual and the social and that is coated by meanings,
attention is given to the relative study of the body from the
theory of social representations, as a way to facilitate the
integration of the more private and individual dimensions
to those that are socially shared and which are reflected in
ways of relating both with their own body as with the body
of the others (Jodelet, 1994). Social representations (RS),
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according to the author, assume an important role in the
development of collective ways of seeing and living of the
body, spreading patterns of thought and behavior related
to it.
The theory of social representations (TRS) was prepared
by S. Moscovici in the 1950s, based on a study that
investigated the social thought on psychoanalysis, «La
Psycanalyse: Son image et son public», published in 1961.
The author, the first to study the phenomenon of the RS,
believes that they are collectively produced and contribute
in the process of formation of behavior and orientation of
social communications. The TRS delve into the processes
by which individuals in social interaction, they build
explanations about social objects (Zanja, 2006). These
explanations, also known as common sense, allow
individuals to give meaning to the new or unknown facts
and likewise give meaning to the society and the universe
to which they belong (Moscovici, 1961/1976).
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Social representations are dynamic processes,
constantly being updated (Moscovici, 1961/1976) with
communication as its condition of existence (Jodelet, 2001),
once the representation is characterized by its social,
shared, character reflecting the norms and values of a group.
Social representations serve as a guide for action (Abric,
1998) guiding individuals and groups in their practices.
As Denigré, Cabezas, Sepulveda, Valle, Gonzalez and
Miranda (2010) highlight, the human being is a social being,
and therefore he is constructed from the plot of established
relationships throughout his life, where social skills are
shared. This form of social knowledge- RS, for cited authors,
it originates and is held in a social environment, it develops
in contact with each other and incorporates in its contents
the speech of a reference group.
In this way, it is verified that the theory of social
representations, according to Jodelet (1994), can contribute
to the understanding of the body, so that more than the
individual and psychological dimension, without
disregarding them, but clarifying the role of knowledgesharing in the recovery of the body and in the importance
of beauty and health and its consequences for the people.
Whereas an object that is constituted from the interaction
of the biological material with the social environment, shows
that there are different representations of the body, passing
by the medicine, biology, art, economy and social (Andrade,
2003). In each of these instances, as evidenced by Ory
(2006), the body normally is subjected to the influence of
the movement of societies, reflecting a particular historical
moment of the social group in which it is inserted. In the
same way, the knowledge that is had on the body is
diversified, both in relation to the space and time
(Separavich & Canesqui, 2010).
Jodelet (1994) says that since ancient times the
knowledge of common sense, the psychological concepts
emphasized in medical or literary texts, proverbs and popular
sayings; give an important place to the body in social
perception.
It is known that both the representations and practices
related to the body vary according to the social environment
experienced by individuals (Andrieu, 2006; Chamme, 1996;
Ory, 2006). While in some countries, like Brazil, the fact of
having a body on the eye, with few clothes to cover it is
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socially accepted and considered as a natural event; in
other cultures, as in some countries in Asia for example, the
body, especially women, are fully protected and may not be
exposed in an environment that is not his family (Suissa,
2008).
In addition to culture, in a broader sense, the historical
moment is also fundamental for thinking about forms of
representing and taking care of the body. Andrade (2003)
notes that in the 20th century, the image of what is healthy
and beautiful was modified in relation to previous periods,
where the fat was synonymous of: health, beauty and
seduction. From the 20th century, especially the second
half, the conquest of beauty and a healthy body becomes
an individual goal, achieved through the exercise of selfcontrol involving willpower, restrictions and constant
monitoring. The fat, which was previously associated with
health, beauty and power; passed over to being related to
the lack of control over oneself.
In addition, the 20th century was characterized by
globalized changes in the moral values, contrary to the
Puritan practices; changes in the designs of the clothes, in
the distances taken between bodies, in looks, changes in
the practices and, especially in representations of the body
(Ory, 2006). Such modifications, related to the changes in
social demands, according to Ory (2006), involved a
redefinition of body rules during a space of two or three
generations who contributed for the reformulation of the
values attributed to the body. There were also changes in
the scientific field, and the body, which up to then had its
emphasis marked by the studies of biology and
microbiology, from this century passes to be regarded as a
vision that goes beyond the biological, also considering
the social and psychological aspects (Chamme, 1996).
From then on, it is highlighted that in addition to a
natural organism, as is represented by modern biology
(Separavich & Canesqui, 2010), the body is constituted
from social and individual representations that are
constantly changing. This dynamic is evident in the way
how each one uses, sickens, perceives, modifies, degrades
and transforms the body. Thus, it is not entirely individual,
nor strictly social, but a result of a symbolic construction
and a subjective invention according to the perceptions
and individual and collective representations (Andrieu,
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BODY AND SOCIAL COGNITIONS
2006). Each individual would symbolically, as Helman (2009)
says, two bodies: (1) Individual body –acquired at birth,
physical and psychological; (2) Social body– essential to
live in society, or any group, with communicative power.
The body is at the same time a private and social object,
being that he is in part, element of an immediate personal
experience, on which the subjectivity is inscribed. On the
other hand, it is a product of social thought, governed by
prescriptive systems, evidenced in the social scenes
(Jodelet, Ohana, Bessis-Moñino & Dannenmuller, 1982).
Thus, the body is shown as a privileged object to study the
interaction of individual and collective processes in the
formation of the RS.
At the same time, it can be said that the study of the
representation of the body has different approaches: one
collective and another psychological, individual. As Jodelet
(1994) defines, the collective approach, based on the social
dynamics, includes knowledge, i.e., representations,
communication and social interactions advents both formal
and informal. Moreover, the approach based on the
subjective sphere reflects the relationship that the subject
establishes with their body. This occurs through the body
experience, with reference to the painful and pleasurable
sensations, exercises and daily activities in general; either
through the relationship of the individual with its
environment, which appears as a «role» that the subject
assigned to their body, or the image that is reflected in the
others around them.
Body image
By treating the body as an individual approach, it is
convenient to introduce the concept of body image. Andrieu
(2006) considers that the objective body is perceived
through the subjective body and that experience comes to
modify the body image, self esteem and the relationship
with the body of the other. Body image, to Schilder (1999),
is the mental representation that an individual has of his
body. Such representation integrates the physical, emotional
and mental levels in every human being, with respect to the
perception of the own body. The author points out that
body image is also a social phenomenon, in which there is
a continuous exchange between our own image and of the
others. For Helman (2009), body image can be any form by
which an individual conceptualizes and experiences their
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body, whether consciously or not. It is incorporated by the
perception, but also by affective, cognitive and behavioural
dimensions (Banfield & McCabe, 2002).
In terms of the implication of the individual, it can be
said that two main dimensions transcend the concept of
body image: investment in the body image (perception),
which reflects the degree of behavioral and cognitive
importance that the person gives their body and
appearance; and evaluation of body image (attitude), which
refers to the degree of satisfaction with the appearance and
the functional capacity of the body (Hargreaves &
Tiggemann, 2006; Monteath & McCabe, 1997). Despite
being composed mainly by those components, body image
is multifaceted, including perceptual, cognitive, emotional,
and behavioral components that interact and influence each
other (Legenbauer, Ruhl & Vocks, 2008).
Some studies were carried out looking at the body image,
mainly in what refers to the bodily satisfaction (defined as
the difference between the perceived body size and the
ideal body size) and the effect of the media on this. In these
studies it is observed an affirmation in common: women,
mainly young people who have a very low body satisfaction
that is directly influenced by the communication media.
(Featherstone, 2010; Jones, 2001; Legenbauer et al., 2008;
Monteath & McCabe, 1997; Tiggemann, 2004).
Currently, Brazilian and international research on body
image identify parallel and differentiated processes between
men and women regarding the manipulation of the body to
achieve this satisfaction. Women usually perceive their
body as more large than it actually is, commonly showing
high levels of body dissatisfaction and wanting a slimmer
body (Ambwani & Strauss, 2007; Camargo, Goetz, Bousfield
& Justo, 2011b; Martins, Nunes & Noronha, 2008; Monteath
& McCabe, 1997; Ruso, 2005). Some studies also noted
that women express negative feelings both in relation to
the individual parts of the body and the body as a whole;
and identify the ideal body for society as an even slimmer
body that their ideal body, seeing themselves much more
dissatisfied with their bodies when confronted with the
social expectation (Monteath & McCabe, 1997).
Studies with women in different consecutive
generations show that you can be checked in different
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ranges of ages who has the will for the thinnest body,
however young women usually want bodies far thinner
than the less young women (Lamb, Jackson, Cassiday &
Priest, 1993; Tiggemann, 2004).
away from the opinion, at least in regards to their base
assumptions. I.e., the image can be used in the formation of
a complex and coherent organization of value or assessment
judgements, taking a demarcated social function.
Recently the research on the body image of men is
gaining place and visibility, noting that they are increasingly
more concerned with muscle definition, a socially shared
meaning of a symbol of masculinity (Hargreaves &
Tiggemann, 2006; Mills & D’alfonso, 2007).In a research
conducted by Tiggemann, Martins and Churchett (2008), it
was verified that while weight and musculature are important
elements of the body image of men, as it is shown in several
earlier investigations, other aspects are also important,
mainly the individual parts of the body, as having more
hair, less chest hairs by the body and having more stature.
Images built, either as assessments made, both in
relation to itself, such as relating to other people, reflect a
role exercised by the body appearance. The body measures
social relationships, and at the same time it can be
considered as a mediator of knowledge that has of itself
and the other (Jodelet, 1994).
Camargo, Justo and Aguiar (2008), in a study on body
satisfaction found that there is a significant difference
between men and women in relation to their self-image and
body satisfaction. While on the one hand, men, even above
the weight considered ideal by the World Health
Organization (WHO) are considered satisfied with their
body; among the women, many declared themselves
dissatisfied with their body, while they are within the range
considered ideal weight. In this way, you can see that there
is a difference between the body pattern established by the
WHO and the aesthetic pattern adopted by the participants.
Moscovici (1981) says that the image that comes to the
subject summarizes a complex organization of stimuli, being
implicit the judgements of value and socially shared
aspects, so that the sensory stimuli coming to the subject
are modulated by collectively divided values. In this sense,
Lopes (2007) proposed that when talking about the image,
not to speak only of an anatomical, real and objective body,
instrument of locomotion functions, of apprehension and
synesthesia, but also a corporeity, which refers to the
subjective reality. It is thus a body which, having gone
through different experiences during life, tells a story, which
is registered in the image itself.
Addressing body image, it stands that there are two
different emphasis: a psychological, individual, explained
by Schilder (1999); and another collective, that can be
related to the notion of organization, referred to by
Moscovici (1981), stating that the concept of image is not
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The Body as a social object
Highlighting the social character of the human body, it
is observed that this is situated at the crossroads of a
number of determinations: from the intellectual to the more
material, more or less disseminated by the press, advertising,
or fiction; considered as modes of diffusion of
representations and values (Ory, 2006). Hubert and Labarre
(2005) talk about the appeal of media to the cult of the slim
body, emphasizing practices that make it easier to reach the
ideal body, and fat being addressed as disease.
In one documented study in national circulation
magazines, Goetz, Camargo, Bertoldo and Justo (2008), by
analyzing the materials on beauty and health, checked that
the RS of the body in the analyzed magazines contemplate
two main aspects: the first, practical, considers eminently
physical aspects relating to beauty and health in the body;
and the second, of more subjective character, represents
the body as a physical-psychic unit, which prioritizes
balance and wellness to achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Beautification appears related to the health and sense of
well-being and the techniques that facilitate the obtaining
of a body suitable to the spreaded social patterns are
highlighted.
Swain (2001), investigated the main RS present on the
covers of Brazilian women’s magazines and noted with
emphasis the technological body, remodeling to follow the
model of woman whose images are present in these
magazines. In these magazines the body is considered
essential, as it is from its capacity of seduction that other
elements are integrated. The diversity of plastic surgery
techniques, rejuvenating cosmetics: all in the fight against
time and imperfections. The body model would finally be
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BODY AND SOCIAL COGNITIONS
available to all, and the beauty would be the essential
condition for romance and happiness.
Jodelet (1994) stated that the external image of the body
appears as a mediator of social ties which the individual
establishes, especially on three factors: 1) in an instrumental
perspective of success of social interactions; 2) to respond
to the social norms of presentation; 3) in the attempt to win
the affection of others. In the study carried out by the same
author, it was found that three quarters of interviewed
people recognized a utilitarian manipulation of the physical
layout, which has a role in the social success, and is a way
of becoming accepted by others and have more easily a
relationship with the others.
Body image, in addition to being linked to self-esteem,
represents an instrument of status and social acceptance,
where people are guided in the idea that the internal or
personality characteristics are presented in their physical
appearance (Camargo, Justo & Alves, 2011a).
Studies investigating the contents of the RS on the
body (Camargo et al., 2011b; Gamboa, Tura & Burztyn, 2009;
Justo, 2011; Justo, Camargo, Moreira & Goetz, 2009; Secchi,
Camargo & Bertoldo, 2009) point out that in general the
body is represented as an object and has an important role
in the social relationships between people, associated with
the power of seduction and influence relationships in
different situations, they found that the most obvious
elements, and that they possibly make up the kernel of the
representation refers to the aesthetic and health.
Camargo et al., (2011a) found that people tend to
attribute to the body some powers related to social influence
and mainly young people relate to making use of these
powers of influence in their social interactions, although
such social functions of the body are not literally expressed
in the lexical content of the RS - possibly because it is a part
against the regulations of the representation of the body.
An investigation already classical, performed by Jodelet
(1984), found that in a few years (less than two decades)
cultural changes in a given population had significant
impact on the relationship of these people with their bodies.
The alteration in the relationship of individuals with their
own body, for its part, indicates that there were changes in
the way of representing it, which shows the importance of
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the social dimension in the representations of the body.
Body beauty is a cultural fact that varies according to each
conception of the world (Queiroz & Otta, 2000). And in this
cultural identification, the media shows itself as a
fundamental factor. To Sierra and Santos (2003), current
media are characterized by the power to produce senses,
designing them and legitimizing them, giving visibility to
the phenomena that report. Thus, it produces consumption
patterns and models of beauty, which, at times, are not
consistent among themselves. Many subjects, mainly
young people, come to achieve beauty patterns associated
with the body, making sacrifices that can take them up to a
becoming ill or dying (Novaes & Vilhena, 2003).
Beauty is conceptualized by Le Pape (2006) as a quality
attributed to a body by an individual or by a given society
and its boundaries are far from being defined. Teixeira (2001)
adds that talk of beauty presupposes to consider something
real, which arouses strong feelings and inspires actions of
reverential contemplation, resulting from elements that
extrapolate the perceptions of the five human senses. There
are social patterns established in relation to body beauty,
showing it as a form of prestige, social acceptance and
success. Many subjects, mainly youngsters, seek to achieve
these patterns associated with the body (Shohat & Stam,
1996).
Malysse (2002), in his research on the social uses of the
body in the South zone of Rio de Janeiro, showed that in
the search for an ideal body, individuals incorporate
standard images of a new body beauty and are literally
condemned to the appearance. It is evidenced that, so the
person sits well with the image itself, the approval of the
others look is required (Camargo et al., 2005; Jodelet, 1994;
Secchi et al., 2009).
Alferez (2006) claims that body beauty is one of the
factors or personal attributes whose influence, in the genesis
of interpersonal relationships, has been systematically
investigated during the past two decades. Another much
studied issue, according to the author, refers to the greater
or lesser importance that physical beauty can be assumed
depending on the type of relationship with the objectives
and needs of the individuals wrapped in it. Either way, the
awareness of their physical beauty and the beauty of the
other is a factor in social interactions. Countless studies
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showed that people perceived as physically attractive - or
fine - are seen as having more positive features of personality
than those perceived as unattractive people, being favorite
and receiving treatment in various situations (Bar-Tal &
Saxe, 1976; Eagjy, Ashmore, Makhijani & Longo, 1991;
Edward, Lemay, Clark & Greenberg, 2010; Gottschall, 2008;
Jackson, Hunter & Hodge, 1995; Johnson & Pittenger, 1984;
Livingston, 2001; Locher, Unger, Sociedad & Wahl, 1993).
Camargo, Goetz, Barbara and Justo (2007), claim that
the social representation of beauty most shared among
college students say the respect of the imposition of
patterns or socially established rules. In addition, beauty
appears as the first aspect in the formation of the initial
impression among the people. The study by Camargo et al.
(2005), with fashion students, indicated that the social
representation of the beauty shared in that population has
two aspects: interpersonal, one in which beauty emerges
as the first personal characteristic that stands out in social
relations; and other normative, referenced to socially
determined patterns of beauty which must be followed. Selfacceptance, or feeling beautiful is crucial so you can have
the sense of social acceptance, which demonstrates the
concern with external standards. On complementation,
Novaes and Vilhena (2003) indicate that ugliness is often
associated with obesity as a form of female social exclusion.
On the RS of the female body among female university
students, Secchi et al. (2009) have noted that this is
represented as something that must be endowed with
beauty, thinness, is associated with the status, exercises
the power and attraction, and it must be healthy. The body
is perceived as an idealized object, away from the actual
dimensions of these women, with implications for their
dissatisfaction with the body.
The study of Camargo, just and Jodelet (2010) suggests
that there are differences in the way of representing the
body between participating men and women, but also
between the different ranges of ages. This finding indicates
that the self-image, the representation of the body, and the
role of it in interpersonal relationships vary in accordance
with the social group to which the individual belongs. The
body is represented as a regulatory element, with features
that stand out among women and among younger
participants. It was observed that women are also more
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dependent on the other in the construction of its self-image
and more demanding in terms of an ideal body. The image
of the female body is associated with beauty and there is
little tolerance for offsets of socially established aesthetic
standards. However, it appears that the influence of the
body social interaction decreases as it increases the age
range of the participants.
Tiggemann and McGill (2004) found evidence in their
studies that social comparison as a process that has
important implications in the satisfaction with the body
itself and can be related to broadcast media, data also found
by Want, Vickers and Amos (2009).Even on the social role
of the body and its appearance, stands the experimental
study by Wookey, Graves and Butler (2009) that verified
the effect of the sensual appearance in the perceived
competence of women, noting that sensuality is associated
with the social skill in low status jobs, but exacerbated
sensuality can be considered inappropriate when women
exercise a high power charge.
Such studies show that both concern and the
appearance is socially motivated and that the appearance
of the body can influence in social relations, going to meet
the propose by Jodelet in the Decade of 1980, by saying
that the body is a mediator of the social relations of the
individual; that was also confirmed by the studies of
Camargo et al. (2005), Camargo et al. (2010) and Secchi et al.
(2009), in which the participants attributed to the appearance
of the body an impact on the formation of the first impression
on someone, mainly for women. Such data were
corroborated by the study of Alli, Amialchuk and Rizzo
(2012), which found decreased social interactions and less
friendship relationships among young obese girls, when
they are compared with the too many, with apropriate weight
in the same group of students.
For Jodelet (1984), models of thought produced social
representations, which shared socially, determined the
different ways to feel and interact with the body.
Representations thus assume an important role in the
development of collective ways of seeing and living the
body, spreading models of thought and behavior related to
the body (Jodelet et al., 1982). Thus, representations serve
as a sort of guide for the practices of care taken with the
body.
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Body practices
The body is considered to be the result of a work on
itself, which has resulted in beauty and health (Damico &
Meyer, 2006). The behavior that has to do with the care
with hygiene, broadcasted from hygiene and social medicine
from the Decade of 1920, until the most technology gifted
esthetic treatments; they have a narrow relationship with
the RS which have on the body and are at the same time
decisive and determined by them. Scheduled in the
representation of an ideal body, slim, beautiful and healthy
individuals adhere different care practices with their body.
According to Abric (1998), the RS are systems that lead
the relationships that individuals have with their physical
and social environment by determining the behavior (or
social practices) although in a non-linear way. Oriented by
the RS that individuals have in their bodies, they adhere to
different practices of modification and body care. By bodily
practices it is understood that behaviors relating to the
body, either preventing health care or embellishment, which
can be, in greater or lesser degree, supported by the RS
that individuals have with their body. Body practices
constitute a rather extensive list of behaviors related to the
body: physical activity, diet, use of clothes and accessories,
fashion and labels membership, aesthetic rituals and even
surgeries. It parts from the idea that the RS relates to
behaviors, or social practices, serving as a guide for action
in daily life (Abric, 1998; Jodelet, 2001) Although this
determination not necessarily happens in a linear fashion.
Adherence to diets, or the consumption of light and
diet food, that associate the pleasure of food with the
maintenance of the body within healthy and aesthetic
patterns (Andrade, 2003), the practice of physical activities,
the use of aesthetic treatments and, ultimately, the
submission associated with aesthetic plastic surgeries, are
practices related to the body which at the moment are
associated with obtaining health and at times looking for
beauty. The choosing of clothes and the behavior of seeing
oneself in the mirror are also considered bodily practices,
as described by Jodelet et al. (1982). Independent of the
reason which justifies the adherence to such practices, it is
observed that they reflect representations and positionings
about the body, normative patterns about what beauty is,
or of what is body health.
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With the current dissemination of information about
the various care that one must take with the body, grows
the preoccupation with the ideal body disseminated by the
media and body dissatisfaction reaches the population,
mainly women, which are carried to adopt highly restrictive
diets and strenuous exercise as a way to compensate for
the calories consumed, in the attempt to correspond to the
current cultural model (Andrade, 2003). Research conducted
by García (1997), noted the eating and beauty paradox,
noting that the pleasure of eating is currently subject to the
pleasure of being physically attractive and within the
aesthetic standards, appearing a doubt regarding being
satisfied gastronomically or a beautiful body.
The practice of physical activity, according to the study
of Salles-Costa, Heilborn, Werneck, Faerstein and Lopes
(2003), was valued by the participating men and women,
considered as a social investment, for letting the most
beautiful body. This practice is predominantly associated
with the men in the sample (Rio de Janeiro University
officials) and the incidence of physical inactivity by women
was related to the lack of time for leisure, once these women
valued the practice of physical activity, and justify not
adhering to this practice due to the lack of time. Other
studies also have low adhesion of women to the practice of
physical exercises, as opposed to a greater adhesion to
diets and favoritism to the cosmetic surgeries (Camargo et
al., 2008; Secchi et al., 2009).
The practice of physical activities, if on the one hand
it may be associated with a better quality of life and the
maintenance of a healthy body, on the other hand you
can highlight as the search for a nice body from exercises,
sometimes it happens in excesses. A study of Irait, Llaves
and Orleans (2009), investigated symbolic dimensions
about the use of anabolic by people of different social
classes, fitness practitioners. For research participants,
the motivation for the practice of bodybuilding is clearly
aesthetic. Fat is the villain and the goal is to eliminate it.
The body is depicted as an incomplete object, which needs
to be worked and improved and the use of anabolic
provides a quick and efficient solution in the modeling of
the body. The cares with the body distinguish between
people who are careful (and that’s why they are valued)
and the relaxed people that don’t care. Even a strong
distinction between the different social classes in the
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ANA MARÍA JUSTO Y BRIGIDO VIZEU CAMARGO
motivations for the use of anabolic and a muscular body
cult stands out.
The finding of this study evidences how the body and
the practices related to it can only be studied by means of
cultural contextualization, and a same practice which can
assume different connotations according to the context in
which it is inserted. The same pattern that is desired, if on
the one hand it is related to the status and power of
seduction of the opposite sex, may be related also to the
things from work and imposition of respect from their peers
(Irait et al., 2009).
Even in the context of academies, Sautchuk (2007) notes
in its study, a contrast in the orientation of bodily practices
on health and beauty, where the health measure assumes a
moral status and is predominantly in the justification for
physical exercise; and aesthetics (object less valued and
less explicit than its health) is justified as a way of
contributing to the quality of life and health through
personal satisfaction. However, according to the author,
that doesn’t reflect one importance inferior to the aesthetics,
as it is directly related to the well-being and translates the
personal interest in investing in their own body.
Another practice relating to the body which gains
importance in the search for beauty is the realization of
aesthetic plastic surgery. These interventions which were
previously maintained in stealth (Teixeira, 2001), were
considered an immorality by the surgeons themselves and
evaluated as a marginal practice until the early 1950’s (NET
& Caponi, 2007); Today they are disseminated in the media
and accepted naturally by society in general (Teixeira, 2001).
According to the Brazilian society of plastic surgery (2009),
approximately 629 thousand plastic surgeries are performed
in Brazil per year, of these, 547 thousand are aesthetic
surgeries. Such numbers qualify Brazil as the third country
where most aesthetic surgeries worldwide are done, behind
only the United States and Mexico. The distribution of this
type of intervention, according to Neto and Caponi (2007),
has demanded a concern in defining the biological patterns
of beauty from medicine.
Although the number of cosmetic surgical procedures
in Brazil and in the world is growing considerably, De Rosa
and Holman (2011) suggest that aesthetic surgeries still
acquire a negative connotation by great part of the people,
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and such practice is more widespread among adolescents
and extremely beautiful women, using strategies to maintain
anonymity in relation to these procedures.
It can be determined in a study by Slevec and
Tiggemann (2010) that the effects of the media in the
attitudes when cosmetic surgery is direct, and that
investment in appearance, anxiety to aging and exposure
to television, predict the social motivation for cosmetic
surgery.
Adams (2010) says in its study that the motivations for
the realization of cosmetic surgeries are articulated in
physical and psychosocial terms, with the expectation that
physical alterations shall ease emotional and social
disturbances.
Investigations are pointing that the greater reason which
has been said to carry out cosmetic surgeries is the
improvement of self-esteem, where it is believed that not
only will there be an intervention for physical improvement,
but especially for psychological and social improvement
(Gimlin, 2007; Kinnunen, 2010; Neto & Caponi, 2007). It is
also as motivation to prevent aging and generational
influence, where children are motivated by parents who
already performed cosmetic surgeries (Edmonds, 2007;
Kinnunen, 2010).
In a study that investigated representations and bodily
practices of adult men and women, Camargo et al. (2010)
found that nearly half of the women declared that they
intended to perform cosmetic surgery, while among men
that number decreases to 15%. The desire to be subjected
to such intervention is a characteristic of people who are
dissatisfied with their bodies and within the considered
normal body mass index. The surgery is related to the search
of body satisfaction and increased self-esteem for
participants.
Andrieu (2006) states that as a result of the longevity,
both men and women are occupied more and more with
their bodies, and the medicine is requested to recover the
vitality of youth, being through medication, surgery, or in
the development of cosmetics. In this sense, Clarke and
Grifin (2007) investigated how women between 50 and 70
years were ageing and the embellishment techniques
including anti-wrinkle creams, cosmetics, hair dye, plastic
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BODY AND SOCIAL COGNITIONS
surgery and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The authors
observed that these women see the aesthetic interventions
in relation to ageing as natural practices and at the same
time idealized. Beauty treatments are increasingly available,
and are practically mandatory for women, in a culture that
devalues the aged body and the natural physical realities.
By means of production on a large scale, mass media
and advertising media, elements of fashion are quickly
disseminated and wanted, matching tastes and appearances
and at the same time specifying the identity, lifestyle and
the group to which the subject resides (Pires, 2005). Lee,
Damhorst and Ogle (2009) verified in their study with
university women which are participants with greater body
satisfaction are less conducive to body modification due
to fashions and behavior to lose weight, diets, exercises
and cosmetic surgery; which comes to meet what Camargo
et al. (2010) points out, people being unsatisfied with the
body, and not necessarily those that are overweight, those
with a greater propensity to do cosmetic procedures.
The body is made subject to interventions in the quest
to satisfy the beauty patterns, and in that sense, medicine
becomes an important mediator (Suissa, 2008), either
through the development of dermatological, surgical
treatments, or through the many types of interventions,
working at the interface between health and beautification.
Such practices mantain the RS diffused on the body, at the
same time that are made possible by them.
Final Considerations
The human body is an object of study whose social
importance is evident throughout history. And starting from
the history of mankind is noted that the body, although it is
characterized as a physical object that embodies human
existence, is also taken as a symbolic content, which is
influenced by the movement of societies. Thus, it is the
interaction of natural matter, with the social environment in
which it is inserted, resulting in individual and social
representations (Andrieu, 2006).
29
a group. I.e., the study of the body from the TRS presents
the possibility of integration of the private dimensions to
those socially shared and reflecting on ways to interact,
both with their own body and the body of others, as well as
Jodelet, (1994) noted. The RS, according to the author, are
fundamental in the development of collective modes of
conceiving and experiencing the body, spreading patterns
of thought and behavior related to it.
It is considered that we are living in a social moment
where the body and body care practices have been
evidenced both in the media as in scientific productions of
recent decades, reflecting the movement of the society in
relation to this object and the values it involves. The
moment that is presenced is marked by the cult of the body,
thin and healthy, reflecting the demands and the
contradictions that we live. Takes place on the one hand
the valorization of the display of a slim body and that
reflects health, on the other hand stands the epidemic of
obesity, which increases as people become increasingly
sedentary and less time to take care of themselves. The
increase in the longevity of people, emphasizing the closer
look at health, allied to the quality of life, is another important
approach to thinking about the body and concerning the
care.
Finally, we must remember that the human body
comprises a remarkable complexity. As a result, cognitions
about this object are also complex, equipped with delicate
consents, peculiarities; facets that attracted the attention
of researchers and scholars throughout the history of
humanity, and that they continue bringing claims to be
thought out and investigated, according to the historical
movement of societies.
Considered that the TRS can be used as an important
base theory for the study of social thinking about the body
and behaviors associated to it with a view that they favor
the observation of the body as a social object and that they
can’t be distanced from the values and beliefs prevailing in
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ANA MARÍA JUSTO Y BRIGIDO VIZEU CAMARGO
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