ABSTRACT
The English word ‘branded’ has an interesting ambiguity. On the one hand, it can imply humiliation, mutilation, stigmatization – as in the branded slave, a life of enforced servitude burned into the flesh. On the other hand, in contemporary usage, ‘brand’ has become synonymous with fashion and its associated social esteem. Those who wear the latest brands in clothes or accessories signal to others that they are totally ‘with it’ – up to date, attractive, successful and self-confident. In this chapter I shall explore both of these realms of meaning. First, we consider perception of the body as alien and stigmatizing. This has many forms, some originating from the person’s self-perception, such as the desire to have limbs amputated (now usually referred to as body image identity disorder – BIID), the desire to change one’s biological gender (transsexualism) and the crippling hatred of the body’s weight found in anorexia and bulimia; others arise from societal rejection, illustrated in attitudes to the disabled as alien and disturbing. Second, we shall look at the idea of the body as a fashion accessory, illustrated by the meteoric rise of cosmetic (or ‘aesthetic’) surgery, which caters to people’s need to have an enhanced bodily appearance as a passport to social acceptance and success. I shall argue that both of these aspects of the ‘branded’ body provide graphic illustration of what Leder (1990) called the dysappearance of the body – the body as a source of discontent, pain and fear. In conclusion, I shall consider how the concept of respect for our embodied selves could result in a greater harmony between our conscious and aspiring selves and our bodies.
