Overview

Our lives are preoccupied with bodily maintenance. We spend many of our waking hours eating, exercising, washing, grooming and dressing in order to maintain our sense of self. What happens after major physical impairment? How do we relate to a damaged body? Wendy Seymour interviews men and women who have suffered profound bodily paralysis, and explores how they deal with their appearance, relationships, sexuality, incontinence and sport. She finds that even major impairment hasn't annihilated these people's experience of an embodied self. She shows that the process of self-reconstruction is interwoven with social expectations and argues that the experience of disability highlights the continuous work involved in embodiment for everyone. The book contributes to the field of the sociology of the body. It is intended for rehabilitation professionals and students.

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9780415186018

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Reviews

"'Seymour has constructed an exemplary exploration of the potential of the ""living human document"" to reveal powerful insights into suffering, care adn empowerment.' - Contact 'Offers rich material and reflections on the active selves engaged with the emotional and conceptual complexities of re-embodiment. It therefore has much to offer sociologists of the body and of identity, in making valuable links between lived experiences and theories. It is especially useful for sociologists and health professionals concerned with rehabilitation who wish to counter biomedical overemphases in rehabilitative priorities.' - Medical Sociology News 'This is a useful text for all those involved in rehabilitation.' - Margaret Edwards, Community Practitioner Vol 72:3 March 1999 'I strongly recommend Wendy Seymour's book for everyone interested in getting to know more about the sociology of the body. It may well become a classic sociological text on the lifeworld of a particular social group and as such Seymour is certainly to be seen in the tradition of one of her intellectual mentors, Erving Goffman.' - Journal of Sociology Vol 34:2 August 1998 'Seymour's book is instructive, not for its intended purpose - identifying a process of embodiment based on a dual sociology theory of the body - but for its thorough and insightful characterisation of disembodiment, particuarly in relation to gender and rehabilitation issues...Seymour has provided us with a deeper understanding of disembodiment and in so doing, has provided a sounding board for critique and further development of this significant aspect of the livesof disabled people.' - Susan Peters, Disability & Society"

This powerful, thought-provoking, and stimulating book is essential reading for those interested in the psychology and sociology of the body and for all health-care and rehabilitation workers. - Choice, 5/99

This powerful, thought-provoking, and stimulating book is essential reading for those interested in the psychology and sociology of the body and for all health-care and rehabilitation workers. - Choice, 5/99

This powerful, thought-provoking, and stimulating book is essential reading for those interested in the psychology and sociology of the body and for all health-care and rehabilitation workers. <br>- Choice, 5/99 <br>

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Wendy Seymour

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