Thinking with Bevereley Skeggs - Stockholms universitet

The Production of BodiesThaïs Machado-BorgesBeing in the middle of a research project that aims to compareconceptions and practices involving the body, physical appearanceand interventions (such as diets, beauty treatments and surgeries)as they are discussed and carried out by lower-income andmiddle-class Brazilian women, aged between 18 and 55, theprocess of thinking with Beverley Skeggs (through her texts andseminars) has developed my interests regarding the production ofbodies and the processes through which value (moral, economicand affective) is inscribed on them. In this paper I aim to discusshow this consolidated emphasis on production and value hasinspired my readings of the ethnographic material gathered sofar and has led me to further reflect about my research questionsand redesign some of my methodological approaches.The Production of BodiesI was lying in a bed in an all white room. The place was a facialclinic. A woman stood by my side. She calmly peeled off piecesof skin from her face and applied them on to mine. After a whileshe asked me if I could help her and gave me a big kitchen knifewhile she explained that I would have to make a slight cut in herforehead (without letting it bleed) so that I could peel a very thinlayer of her skin and apply it onto my own. She looked at me witha challenging smile and asked whether I would really dare to helpher. I hesitated for a while until I realized the procedure was notas difficult as I thought. The skin was easily removed as if it haddried out from sunlight.In a monotonous tone, the woman who worked at the clinicexplained all the steps in the procedure. I was lying in bedagain. As she went through her explanation I began to feel more39