Plastic Bodies

Summary

Material Girl: The Effacements of Postmodern Culture examines the postmodern notion we are currently referring to as the "Plastic body" in relation to a few real-life examples (but not without bringing up theorists whose work is largely unknown to most). Of the real world examples, there is an episode of Donahue wherein Phil Donahue asks whether or not ads for colored contacts are racist. The audience members don't think so. Bordo thinks otherwise. Attention is also turned to Essence magazine, which juxtaposes the an article about "The Beauty of Black" with ads that sell hair straightening products or offer "escape". Then there's Madonna, who had an undeniable influence (probably larger at the time than now, but still there in some form) and the changes her own body has undergone, particularly noting how, although she at one point said she liked her stomach in its "round" form, she then went on to start working out because she "didn't have a flat stomach anymore" along with other acts of redefining herself. Bordo concludes that one can't really get away from the social context in which things occur and should be mindful of consequences.

Body Worlds is a pet project of Gunther von Hagens (né Liebchen) displaying bodies preserved by reactive polymers. It's controversial to many, but popular enough to now be exhibiting in North America. His process of Plastination was developed in response to the processes of preservation at the time, as he felt that they could be improved. There's even a link on the website to one about body donation, and a "thank you" to all the body donors. The bodies in the exhibit are shown in active and life-like poses.

Terms

postmodern: coming after, and usually in reaction to, modernism in the 20th century, esp. in the arts and literature; specif., of or relating to a diffuse cultural and artistic trend or movement, esp. in art, architecture, and writing, since the 1950s, characterized by eclecticism in style and content, freedom from strict theoretical constraints, indifference to social concerns, etc. (Webster's New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition)
Plastination: a process of preserving bodies using reactive polymers.
madonna: (once again from Webster's) a former Italian title for a woman, equivalent to madam
plastic: moldable, able to be shaped.
pornography (I include this because of the debate as to what counts as pornography[also from Webster's]): writings, pictures, etc. intended primarily to arouse sexual desire (italics mine)
Questions
Do you buy the idea of Madonna as a feminist?
What do you make of the question, posed by an audience member on Donahue, "What's wrong with blonde hair and blue eyes?"?
And why do they insist that colored contacts have the same effect for black women as cornrows for Bo Derek?

Why did Madonna apparently change her mind completely about her figure? How'd she reconcile this with the concept of self that resists pigeonholes?
What message do readers of Essence really get?
Considering the mention of Oprah Winfrey, Essence and Phil Donahue in the article, what do you think of Tyra Banks and her daytime TV show?
What effect does history have on us when we misunderstand it due to incomplete or incorrect knowledge?