Body, Beauty and Fashion - Department of Sociology

Course Code // CCHU9012
Humanities
Body, Beauty and Fashion
Course Description
This course takes students on an exploration of
the links between body, beauty and fashion from
a variety of perspectives ranging from sociology,
social policy, economics, psychology and medicine.
These various perspectives together offer
students a way of seeing how individual level issues
(like self esteem, stigma and identity) shape
and are shaped by community level issues (mass
media), societal level issues (gender) and global
level issues (globalization and westernization).
The course examines these issues in a variety of
formats using guest lectures, mass media analysis,
video clips, problem solving activities and
discussion. The course also focuses on cultural
representations and understandings of the human
body and ideals of beauty. Although the emphasis
is primarily on contemporary Hong Kong
society, lectures will also include in-depth analyses
of how beauty is culturally constructed and
historically situated around the world. To this
end, the course is gender inclusive and presents
both the female and male perspectives on beauty
and body image. In this context, how human
bodies and standards of beauty are increasingly
influenced by a global media, which promotes
a progressively narrow concept of beauty, will
be critically discussed. Aside from the media
influence on an increasingly globalized interpretation
of beauty standards, the course also
explores how diet and fashion industries are
gaining momentum in shaping beauty ideals.
Lectures address other globally and socially
constructed aspects of beauty and identity, such
as: race, class, culture, ethnicity, sexual identity,
age, and ability/disability.
Study Load //
Activities
Lectures
Tutorials
Fieldwork / Visits
Reading / Self-study
Assessment: Essay / Report writing
Assessment: Presentation (incl preparation)
Assessment: In-class quizzes (incl preparation)
Course Link // http://commoncore.hku.hk/cchu9012
Total
Number of hours
26
10
10
25
30
30
12
143

Lecture Time // First semester (Wed)
Assessment //100% coursework
Assessment Tasks
1. Reflective journal
2. Fieldwork assignment
3. In-class quizzes (2)
4. Tutorial workshop participation
Learning Outcomes
Course Co-ordinator //
> Professor K.A. Laidler, Department of Sociology,
Faculty of Social Sciences
Tel: 2859 2059 Email: kjoe@hku.hk
Teacher(s) //
> Professor K.A. Laidler, Department of Sociology,
Faculty of Social Sciences
Tel: 2859 2059 Email: kjoe@hku.hk
> Dr M.T. Dean, Department of Sociology,
Faculty of Social Sciences
Tel: 2859 2064 Email: mtdean@hku.hk
Weighting
40
20
20
20
1. Describe, explain and differentiate the sociological,
psychological, anthropological
and biological theories and ideas related to
body, beauty and fashion.
2. Extrapolate key elements of various theories
regarding beauty, body image, fashion
and gender and apply to their everyday experiences.
3. Assess and critique messages regarding
beauty, body image and fashion and place
these messages in both a local and global
context.
4. Demonstrate comprehensive understanding
of the complex relationship between
gender and beauty and how culture and
history impact this relationship.
5. Critically assess social messages regarding
body, beauty and fashion and discuss the
social responsibility of accepting, not judging
beauty as they explore alternative concepts
of beauty that question conventional
definitions.
Required Reading //
Barbie boots up. (1996). Time Magazine, 148(22). From http://www.
time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985509,00.html
Cavanaugh, J. (1997). The global resistance to sweatshops. In A.
Ross (Ed.), No sweat: Fashion, free trade, and the rights of garment
workers (pp. 39-50). New York: Verso.
Etcoff, N. L. (2000). Survival of the prettiest: The science of beauty.
New York: Anchor Books. [Selected chapters]
Frost, L. (2001). Young women and the body: A feminist sociology.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave. [Selected
chapters]
Gibbs, J., Ellison, N., & Heino, R. (2006). Self-presentation in
online personals: The role of anticipated future interaction,
self-disclosure, and perceived success in Internet dating.
Communication Research, 33(2), 152-177.
Kilbourne, J. (2000). Can’t buy my love: How advertising changes
the way we think and feel. New York: Simon & Schuster. [Selected
chapters]
Louie, K., & Edwards, L. (1994). Chinese Masculinity. East Asian
History(8), 135-148.
Wang, C. Y., & Goodridge, W. (2009). Chicken feathers and garlic skin:
Diary of a Chinese garment factory girl on Saipan. New York, NY:
Passion Profit Company.
Whitehead, S., & Barrett, F. J. (2001). The masculinities reader.
Cambridge: Polity. [Selected chapters]
Wohlrab, S., Stahl, J., & Kappeler, P. (2007). Modifying the body:
Motivations for getting tattooed and pierced. Body Image, 4(1), 87-
95.
Recommended Reading //
Edut, O. (2003). Body outlaws: Rewriting the rules of beauty and body
image (Expanded and updated 2nd ed.). Emeryville, CA: Seal Press.
Frith, K., Cheng, H., & Shaw, P. (2004). Race and beauty: A
comparison of Asian and Western models in women’s magazine
advertisements. Sex Roles, 50(1/2), 53-61.
Klaczynski, P., Goold, K., & Mudry, J. (2004). Culture, obesity
stereotypes, self-esteem, and the “thin ideal”: A social identity
perspective. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33(4), 307-317.
Leong, S. (2006). Who’s the fairest of them all? Television ads for
skin-whitening cosmetics in Hong Kong. Asian Ethnicity, 7(2),
167-181.
Leung, F., Lam, S., & Sze, S. (2001). Cultural expectations of thinness
in Chinese women. Eating Disorders, 9(4), 339-350.
McNeil, K., Johnson, O., & Johnson, A. Did you hear what Tommy
Hilfiger said? Urban legend, urban fashion and African-American
generation Xers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management,
5(3), 234-240.
Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The presentation of self in virtual life:
Characteristics of personal home pages. Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, 79(3), 643-660.
Pun, N. (2005). Made in China: Women factory workers in a global
workplace. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
So, A. (2003). Cross-border families in Hong Kong: The role of social
class and politics. Critical Asian Studies, 35(4), 515-534.
Weiner, J. (2007). Life doesn’t begin 5 pounds from now (1st pbk. ed.).
New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment.
Recommended Websites //
Campaign for Real Beauty Worldwide
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/
Fair Labor Association
http://www.fairlabor.org/
Masculinities.org
http://www.masculinities.org/
PBS Parents on the Search for Masculinity
http://www.pbs.org/parents/raisingboys/masculinity.html
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services on Men’s Health
http://www.womenshealth.gov/mens/
World Health Organization on Gender, Women and Health
http://www.who.int/gender/en/