MiniLesson: Disciplined Bodies

Tiffany Holland

19 Sept 202207:25

Summary

TLDRThis mini-lesson discusses the concept of disciplinary power, as introduced by Michel Foucault. It explains how societal institutions such as schools, media, and law shape our understanding of what is 'normal' and 'abnormal.' These norms are ingrained in us from a young age, influencing behaviors and perceptions through subtle regulation and surveillance. The lesson emphasizes that these norms are constructed and can be resisted, empowering individuals to challenge systems of inequality and create new definitions of what is considered normal.

Takeaways

🧠 Foucault's concept of 'disciplinary power' explains how societal norms are taught through repeated regulation and surveillance of behaviors.
📚 From a young age, individuals learn normalized ideas from various institutions like schools, families, media, healthcare, religion, and laws.
🏷️ Normal behaviors are labeled as such if they conform to societal expectations, while nonconforming behaviors are labeled as 'other' or 'abnormal.'
📜 Disciplinary power operates subtly, training people to accept behaviors as natural or innate without them realizing they are being trained.
🚗 A simple example of disciplinary power is adjusting one’s behavior, like slowing down when seeing a speed limit sign, even without direct enforcement.
👦👧 Gender roles are enforced from childhood, as seen in scenarios like separating boys and girls into different lines based on expected norms.
⚖️ Disciplinary power doesn’t just come from authority figures; individuals who follow the rules also give legitimacy and power to those rules.
🔍 People constantly check their behavior against social cues and expectations to either blend in or stand out, reflecting internalized disciplinary power.
🔄 The idea of 'normal' is socially constructed, meaning it can be challenged and changed, offering room for resistance and creating new norms.
🌍 Systems of injustice, inequality, and oppression are created by humans, so there is potential for humans to dismantle them and construct new, just systems.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the lesson on 'disciplined bodies'?
-The lesson focuses on how we define and label bodies as 'normal' or 'abnormal' based on societal norms and how these labels are enforced through disciplinary power.
What are some of the institutions that teach us ideas about what is normal?
-Institutions like schools, families, social media, medicine, religion, laws, the criminal justice system, and consumer culture all play a role in teaching us ideas about what is considered normal.
What happens if someone does not behave according to the rules taught by these institutions?
-If someone does not behave according to the established rules, they are labeled as 'other,' 'different,' or 'abnormal.'
What is Michel Foucault's concept of 'disciplinary power'?
-Foucault's concept of disciplinary power refers to the repeated regulation and surveillance of behaviors and ideas, which shape our understanding of what is considered normal.
How does the example of seeing a speed limit sign illustrate disciplinary power?
-When drivers see a speed limit sign, they often adjust their behavior (e.g., slowing down) even if there is no visible authority enforcing the limit. This reflects how disciplinary power influences behavior through the possibility of being monitored.
How does the classroom example of boys and girls lining up illustrate disciplinary power?
-The example shows how children are taught gender norms, such as boys lining up on one side and girls on the other, and how deviations from these norms are corrected, reinforcing societal expectations of gender behavior.
What role do children play in enforcing disciplinary power in the classroom example?
-Children enforce disciplinary power by following the rules and giving legitimacy to them. This reinforces the power of the norms, even without explicit authority intervention.
Why is disciplinary power so effective, according to the lesson?
-Disciplinary power is effective because it operates even when people are unaware of it. People internalize the norms and regulate their own behavior to conform without needing external enforcement.
What is the lesson’s perspective on the concept of 'normal' and 'abnormal'?
-The lesson argues that what is labeled as 'normal' is a societal construct, and what is deemed 'abnormal' is no less real or imaginable. Both categories are socially created and maintained.
What is the feminist perspective on the systems that create norms of 'normal' and 'abnormal'?
-From a feminist perspective, recognizing that these systems are human-made implies that they can be changed. If we create systems of inequality and oppression, we also have the power to resist and create new systems and norms.

Outlines

00:00

📘 Introduction to Disciplined Bodies

This introduction sets the stage for a discussion on how we define and label bodies, particularly what is considered 'normal' and 'abnormal.' The speaker emphasizes that by the end of the lesson, the concept of 'disciplinary power' should be understood, particularly how various societal institutions (schools, media, healthcare, etc.) teach us what behaviors are deemed acceptable or deviant from a young age.

05:00

🏛 Institutions Shape Our Norms

The paragraph explores how societal institutions, like schools, media, and religion, teach us norms and rules. We internalize these lessons so deeply that conforming behaviors are considered 'normal' while deviations are labeled 'abnormal' or 'other.' This conditioning starts early, and the speaker points out that these ideas of what’s normal are socially constructed.

📖 Foucault's Disciplinary Power

Michel Foucault's concept of 'disciplinary power' is introduced here, explaining that power operates through discipline, and the term ‘discipline’ refers to the regulation and surveillance of behavior. Foucault argued that people learn what is 'normal' through repetitive social training, often without realizing it. This subtle form of control becomes naturalized in everyday life.

🚓 The Speed Limit Analogy

This analogy explains how disciplinary power works in everyday life. A driver may not be actively thinking about their speed until they see a sign that reminds them they could be monitored. This reminder changes behavior, illustrating how the mere possibility of surveillance can enforce conformity to rules, similar to social norms dictating acceptable behavior.

👫 Gender Segregation in Classrooms

A classroom scenario is used to illustrate how norms are enforced. Children are told to line up by gender, and when one child breaks the rule, they are corrected. This shows how disciplining starts early, reinforcing the idea that certain names, behaviors, and identities belong to specific genders. These norms are imposed subtly yet powerfully.

⚖️ Power Beyond the Teacher’s Authority

Disciplinary power is shown as not only coming from authority figures like teachers, but also from the children who follow and legitimize the rules. The students’ compliance reinforces the power of the rules, making disciplinary power an invisible yet potent force that operates even when we are unaware of it.

👀 Self-Regulation Through Social Cues

This part elaborates on how individuals constantly look to others for behavioral cues to either blend in or stand out. The idea is that what is considered abnormal is not inherently wrong, but it stands in opposition to constructed norms. The speaker highlights how these societal expectations guide our self-regulation.

🔄 Constructing and Resisting Norms

The speaker encourages critical thinking, particularly from a feminist perspective, about how we collectively create norms around gender, sexuality, and other social roles. Since humans create these systems, there is the potential for change and resistance. This final paragraph emphasizes that if we can create systems of oppression, we can also create new, more just systems.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Disciplinary Power

Disciplinary power refers to the way behaviors, actions, and ideas are regulated and monitored to define what is 'normal' in society. This concept, introduced by Michel Foucault, is central to the video's theme, as it explains how individuals are trained to conform to societal expectations through repeated social cues, institutions, and systems like education and law enforcement. The script uses examples like the enforcement of speed limits and gender-segregated lines in schools to illustrate how disciplinary power influences daily life.

💡Normal vs. Abnormal

This distinction refers to the societal labels applied to behaviors, identities, and actions that either conform or deviate from established norms. In the video, the terms 'normal' and 'abnormal' are used to describe how society defines acceptable behaviors and those that fall outside of these rules. These labels are socially constructed through institutions like schools, law enforcement, and consumer culture, influencing how individuals see themselves and others. The preschool line-up example demonstrates how children are socialized into this binary from an early age.

💡Hegemony

Hegemony is the dominance of certain ideas, values, or practices that become accepted as common sense or 'natural' in society. The video discusses how hegemonic ideas, such as gender roles or racial behaviors, are learned through various institutions, reinforcing societal norms. For instance, the toy aisles in Target distinguishing between 'girl' and 'boy' toys reflect hegemonic gender expectations, which are internalized by individuals and become self-regulating.

💡Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher whose theories on power, discipline, and surveillance are central to the video's content. His book 'Discipline and Punish' introduced the idea that power operates not just through force but also through the subtle, everyday regulation of behaviors. The video highlights Foucault's concept of disciplinary power, showing how individuals are trained to conform to societal norms through repeated regulation and surveillance, often without even realizing it.

💡Institutions

Institutions like schools, families, media, healthcare, religion, and the criminal justice system play a crucial role in shaping societal norms and behaviors. These institutions are mentioned in the video as key agents in teaching what is considered 'normal' or 'abnormal' from a young age. For example, school systems enforce gender segregation in activities, while media and consumer culture perpetuate gender stereotypes, reinforcing societal expectations.

💡Surveillance

Surveillance refers to the observation and monitoring of individuals’ behaviors to ensure conformity to societal norms. In the video, this concept is illustrated with the example of drivers checking their speed upon seeing a speed limit sign, as they fear being watched by law enforcement. This reflects how surveillance influences actions, even when individuals are not directly being monitored, and ties into Foucault’s idea of disciplinary power.

💡Resistance

Resistance is the act of challenging or pushing back against societal norms and systems of power. The video emphasizes that since systems of normality and abnormality are socially constructed, they can also be deconstructed or changed. As the speaker identifies as a feminist, she highlights that recognizing these constructed systems gives individuals the opportunity to resist and create new, more equitable systems and norms.

💡Socialization

Socialization is the process by which individuals learn and internalize the values, norms, and behaviors appropriate to their society. The video explains how socialization starts from an early age, often before individuals have language for the ideas being taught. This is seen in examples like how children are trained to line up by gender or how behaviors deemed 'normal' are repeatedly reinforced through interactions with various institutions.

💡Gender Roles

Gender roles are societal expectations for how individuals should behave based on their assigned gender at birth. In the video, the example of a preschool teacher separating boys and girls into different lines demonstrates how gender roles are enforced and normalized in everyday situations. These roles are a product of socialization, reinforced by institutions like schools and consumer culture (e.g., toy aisles divided by gender).

💡Collective Power

Collective power refers to the idea that societal norms and systems of power are constructed and upheld by collective participation. The video emphasizes that by adhering to societal rules, individuals give legitimacy to those rules, reinforcing their power. However, the video also suggests that collective power can be harnessed for change, as humans have the capacity to create new systems that challenge existing norms and injustices.

Highlights

Introduction to the concept of 'disciplined bodies' and how we define and label normal vs abnormal.

Explanation that normalized behaviors are learned from institutions such as schools, families, social media, healthcare, religion, laws, and the criminal justice system.

The idea that people are labeled normal if they follow the rules and abnormal if they act outside of these rules.

Introduction to Michel Foucault's concept of 'disciplinary power,' which is the repeated regulation and surveillance of behaviors and ideas.

Discipline is seen not just as punishment but as a method of training behaviors to the point that people think it is natural or innate.

Example of a speed limit sign affecting behavior, illustrating how even the perception of being watched disciplines people.

A preschool example where gendered lining up teaches children to follow normative gender roles, showing how disciplinary power is learned from a young age.

Children who follow rules, like lining up by gender, legitimize those rules, thus reinforcing disciplinary power.

Disciplinary power is so pervasive that it functions even when people are unaware of its presence.

The concept that what is considered 'abnormal' is not false or less valid than what is labeled 'normal.'

The course will explore the constructed nature of societal norms, particularly around sexuality and gender.

As a feminist, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding that humans create systems of normalcy, which means they can also change them.

The possibility of resisting and changing systems of injustice, inequality, and oppression because they are human-made.

The hopeful message that if systems of oppression are created by society, then new, more just systems can also be created.

Closing sentiment that we have the power to create 'new worlds and new normals' by recognizing and challenging the systems that shape our behaviors.