Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

MMBAC Meeting – Larry Monocello presenting

January 30, 2019 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

old diagram of human skull

Please join us for this semester’s first meeting of Medicine, Mind, Biology and Culture (MMBAC) on January 30, 2019 at noon in TH 21.

Larry Monocello will be presenting, “‘Things that can be helped”: White American and South Korean perspectives on bodily self-control and self-maintenance in men.”

 Abstract: Body image disturbance and eating disorders are increasing in prevalence around the world, yet the experiences of men and people of non-Western cultural groups remain understudied. Using cognitive anthropological methods of cultural domain analysis and residual agreement analysis, I address this gap by comparing the ways in which Americans and South Koreans understand the role of “bodily self-control” in male body ideals. Over three phases of research, the concept of “bodily self-control” emerged among Americans, and the concept of chagi kwalli (literally, “self-maintenance”) emerged among Koreans. I show that Americans strongly share a model of bodily self-control, while Koreans largely do not. Rather, the concept of chagi kwallibetter explains how Koreans integrate aesthetics, bodily mutability, subjectivity, and relationality in their assessments of male body ideals. Recognizing such differences should affect how clinicians and researchers approach future studies of body image in men, both in South Korea and in cultural milieus.

MMBAC is an informal, brown-bag lunch meeting, where graduate students, faculty, and interested undergraduate students in biocultural medical anthropology and other relevant fields can:

  • discuss recent publications (or films!) of interest in the field of medical anthropology, biological anthropology, or psychocultural anthropology
  • circulate drafts of works in progress and get peer feedback
  • practice/polish conference presentations and get feedback from peers

Details

Date:
January 30, 2019
Time:
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Event Categories:
, ,

Venue

21 ten Hoor Hall
Tuscaloosa, + Google Map