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Haden Baker Prof. Randall Cooper Composition 1 October 27, 2013 Comparative Essay When looking at these two different essays, Beauty (Re) discovers the Male Body and Panopticism, you have to be very open minded as well as an active reader. Both Susan Bordo and Michel Foucault make the reader contemplate their proposed argument, but about society as a whole. While some of the same concepts are presented in both essays, they are portrayed in very different ways. Some of these concepts include the ideas of: social normalcy, power, and the gaze. Along with these, their writing styles are also extremely altered from each other. In Beauty (Re) discovers the Male Body, Bordo uses a somewhat relaxed, playful, and persuasive approach in her writing. Id rather spend time (and have sex) with a dancing man with love handles than with a Greek statue who gets in a nasty mood if he misses a workout (Bordo 233). This example portrays a relaxed, playful side of Bordo, while at the same time getting her point of view across. She uses this throughout the entire essay to make a connection with the reader and hopefully persuade them into her way of thinking. On the other hand, Foucault uses a more serious and powerful approach in his writing. All through his essay Panopticism, he uses his powerful opinion and seriousness to make (not persuade) the reader to think how he wants them to think. Even though his work is a hard read, Foucault is constantly throwing aggressive ideas and opinions at the reader to make sure that by the end of the essay,

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the reader is completely captured and content with what he is expressing. An example of this is Foucault displays a scholarly aspect throughout the essay which makes the reader not question his points. Social structure and normalcy is just one of the many key concepts that is heavily concentrated on in both of these essays. Bordo focuses on male advertising as her tool for social structure and todays normal cultural views. She believes that in todays world, advertising is what fuels popular culture. Her belief is that the expansion of near naked male models being used in todays advertisements is helping shape a new perspective of how our culture sees the male body. Susan Bordo gives us a no-holds-barred history of the rise of the male figure in advertising (Percy par. 1). If we see something on a commercial, we get this idea in our heads that is what we are supposed to act and be like and if we are not that, then we are not considered normal. Bordo wants it to be eventually socially acceptable to see naked men on a billboard. Women have been in this sexual light for centuries, and now that men are moving into the light, our culture does not know how it feels about it. It used to be that our idea of a normal man was a very conservative, masculine man that was more concerned about his work and hobbies, rather than how good his fashion was. She says that we as a population make what we think is socially acceptable and what is not. It is not the fashion experts that make what is considered normal, we do. Yes, they do persuade us to think certain ways, but is ultimately up to us. This is a lot different than Foucaults view of normal and social structure. He paints a picture of a world where social structure is created by higher officials and they are the ones that decide what is acceptable and what is not. These few in power create the rules and enforce them by whatever they think is necessary. He thinks it is normal that people need to be controlled and enforced and if they are not, then the world would be complete chaos. Where Bordo thinks that social

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structure and our idea of normal is by choice of the people, Foucault believes that a central authority makes our normal concepts and rules. Power is another very important factor in both of these two authors writings. Again, Bordo believes that the power in given to the people and not to a central authority. She thinks that the purpose of the advertising companies is to commercialize societys standards, not authorize. Her opinion is that if nobody responded to advertisements, then they would have no power over us. We give them the power over us and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Foucaults idea of power is extremely diverse. In the beginning of the essay Panopticism, he explains how the magistrates had power over the medical treatment of the individuals who had contracted the disease. They had the power to capture and contain anyone they thought was a threat to the population. Power is mobilized; it makes itself everywhere present and visible (Foucault 292). He believes that power is portrayed by a central figure and is always visible and controls every aspect of human life. The last shared concept is the power of the gaze. In Beauty (Re) discovers the Male Body, the gaze is the constant interaction/reaction of how males and females view each other. Bordo thinks that our culture is a synopicon many observing the few. The many, in this case, is society and the few is the advertising companies. I believe that Bordo is explaining a personal type of gaze, where Foucault is an authoritative type. He says we live in a panopticon society wherein many are observing the few. He uses the visual of Benthams Panopticon to portray his point. It is a prison where everything can be seen from a central tower monitored by an armed guard. The principle of the Panopticon was that prisoners could be observed night and day, without realizing that they were being observed (Oliver, par 1). This backs up his idea of a central authority surveying everything.

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So in comparing these two different pieces of literature, the main ideas are similar, but the views about the actual meaning of the concepts and how they are applied into modern day situations are vastly diverse. I think that both Bordo and Foucault are exceptionally talented authors; therefore, they are very opinionated/passionate. Though Bordo does a better job of connecting with the reader(s), Foucault provides specific situations to back up his reasoning. I personally felt more comfortable reading and overall enjoyed Bordos piece more because she used a more modern style of writing. The majority of Foucaults work, although brilliant and concise, went right over my head. In closing, I have confidence in that both essays strengthened my reading abilities and broadened my literature repertoire.

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Worked Cited: Bartholomae, David, and Tony Petrosky. "Beauty (Re) Discovers the Male Body." Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 189-233. Print. Bartholomae, David, and Tony Petrosky. "Panopicism." Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 282-309. Print. Oliver, Paul. "Foucault and the Panopticon." Teach Yourself Article RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.teachyourself.co.uk/subjects/Philosophy-Politics-and-Religion/Foucault-andthe-Panopticon.aspx>. Percy, Walker. The Loss of the Creature. Ways of Reading. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 480-496.