Emmanuel Bazemore Comparative Essay Dr. Cooper October 26, 2013 Bordo vs.

Foucault Susan Bordo and Michael Foucault are two great authors, and bring up very interesting points. Bordo talks about the male body, and how in advertisement it can bring about masculinity. She takes on different points of view on how people look at men from advertisement. One great aspect that she talks about is the Gaze. The Gaze is basically a zone that you get into when looking at something you like. It catches your eye and you cant help but look at it. As for Foucault, he talks about something total different from Bordo. That point is Panopticism, but the debate was about power, discipline and manipulation. Both authors make good points about their essays but, where are they different and where are they similar? Beginning with the similarities, they both talk about trending topics. Bordo talks about the male body and how it brings about emotions in women and men. Foucault talks about power, manipulation, and discipline and how it has shaped society. Looking at both these topics you may think there are no similarities at all, but thinking about both subject in depth, you see that both have something to do with influence and power. Bordo speaks about men in advertising their bodies, so that they can essentially influence men that they can look like the guy in the magazine. The same with Foucault he speaks about how power can influence someone to do something.

Some other Similarities, is that Bordo points out that men should look like the men in the advertisement. The companies that use these ads believe that if they can manipulate men into thinking that they will look this way, and then the men will buy their product. Which then brings us back to the Foucault point about manipulation. If you have the power to manipulate then you can change society. Bordo talks about the homosexuality and how it had an influential impact on the advertisement industry. Again we see a similarity between Bordo and Foucault, in a sense that they both had something to do with influencing the mass. They both wrote their essays in a similar way. Bordo used real life examples from her life, and Foucault used real life examples to explain how power and manipulations works. For example, Bordo talked about how one day she was sitting at the table, and she came across the ad with a half naked male body. Example, from Foucault is in the beginning of his essay when he talks about a plague. The plague causes the people in power to take measures, such as, bedtimes for the whole city, and inspection of all homes. They both also speak about the gaze. Bordo talks about it in a sense that women have this gaze in which they fixed on the male object. On the other hand, Foucault talks about the gaze as it pertains to power. Its an analysis of power through the use of the gaze. The gaze is only important here insofar as it is a concrete mechanism through which power is exercised. The principle of the Panopticon is not the gaze but the automatisation and disindividualisation of power. The last similarity is that of observation. Bordo speaks about how men are not supposes to be observed but a moving target as her uncle put it. Women are supposes

to be observed by the male. As for Foucault, he talks about how observation is everything when in power. Though there are some similarities in these two essays, there are also many differences in these two essays. First off Bordo and Foucault right from the start of their essays are talking about completely different subjects. Bordo rediscovers the male body while Foucault explains the necessity of power, discipline and manipulation. Foucault focuses on discipline and how it can implement control over the mass. He explains that in this society we live in now, people believe that we are free to do as we please. But that is not the case. Though it may seem like we are free, the people in power are also controlling us, which by the way is the government. As explained earlier in the essay discipline is the only way to control and keep power. Intimidation and manipulations also controls and keeps power. Foucault, talks about Jeremy Benthams Panopticon, which basicall y talking about prison, control, and power over the people who are incarcerated. Foucault uses Panopticon as the bases to his argument. Its what society needs to stay in order because, if there is no order then there is no control. Again we see Foucault go back to the times where power and discipline were the focus of the society. He explains that, Panopticon is clearly part of his much larger project to understand the microphysics of power. As he puts it, the Panopticon must not be understood as a dream building: it is the diagram of a mechanism of power reduced to its ideal form . . . it is in fact a figure of political technology that may and must be detached from any specific use. Overall Foucault tries to understand how power works in this society and how it is used in this society. Compared to Bordo all this talk about power and discipline has nothing to do with the

male body and how advertisement affects the society. Bordo differs from Foucault in the sense that she talks about her personal experiences and changes positions throughout her essay to get a different point of view. She talks about her encounter with a picture of a nude male. She is mesmerized by the picture and gazes at it for lengthy amount of time. She then goes on to explain how the picture affected her sexual sense. Meaning it made her weak in the knees, just by looking at the picture. She even brings the picture to school to get other girls opinion about the picture. She compares the models body to that of Arnold Schwarzenegger, explaining that the models body is more fitting and so over developed like Arnolds. Going further into the book she talks about feminine instincts that driver her eyes to his private area. She goes on about the private area and the masculinity of his body. She then moves into talking about how men look to women and how women look to men. She explains that women are emotional beings and they try to please the other sex as best they can. When men compliment women whether you see it or not the women is motivated and feels stronger. On the other hand men are not suppose to be objectified by women. It is seen as weakness on our part. Bordo a female, positions herself as homosexual, bisexual, and straight. She then ends her essays with how the world is and what society thinks about the situation. Bordo differs from Foucault not only in subject but also in how they write to their audience. Bordo is very personal and uses a lot of other sources to show her point. She makes you feel like your there looking at the magazine that was explained early in the essay. As for Foucault, it was more of factual kind of essay. It was very to the point and compared to Bordo it was boring. It wasnt very lively and it wasnt personal aspects of his life but

facts from history. Overall they are great writers who bring up great points on certain issues that are still being debated in society. Both of there essays make you think about how influenced you are by advertisement, and how easy we can be manipulated by the man with all the power.

Work Cited

Caluya, Gilbert. "The Post-Panoptic Society? Reassessing Foucault In Surveillance Studies." Social Identities 16.5 (2010): 621-633. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Upin, Jane S. "Applying The Concept Of Gender: Unsettled Questions." Hypatia 7.3 (1992): 180. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.