CCHU9012
Body, beauty and fashion
Offer semester
Lecture time
Lecture venue
Credits awarded
1st semester
Wednesday
13:00 – 14:50
KB223
6
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 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
Number of hours
Lectures
26
Tutorials
10
Reading / Self-study
25
Assessment: Essay / Report writing
40
Assessment: Presentation (incl preparation)
30
Assessment: In-class quizzes (incl preparation)
12
Total:
143
On completing the course, students should be able to:
Describe, explain and differentiate the sociological, psychological, anthropological and biological theories and ideas related to body, beauty and fashion.
Extrapolate key elements of various theories regarding beauty, body image, fashion and gender and apply to their everyday experiences.
Assess and critique messages regarding beauty, body image and fashion and place these messages in both a local and global context.
Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between gender and beauty and how culture and history impact this relationship.
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.
Tasks
Weighting
Tutorial participation and presentation
35%
Reflective journal
35%
Quizzes
30%
Hakim, J. (2018) ‘The Spornosexual’: the affective contradictions of male body-work in neoliberal digital culture. Journal of Gender Studies, 27(2), pp.231-241.
Goffman, E. (1959). “Introduction” from the presentation of self in everyday life. In C. Malacrida & J. Low (Eds.), Sociology of the body: A reader (pp. 53-56). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gibbs, N., Salinas, M. & Turnock, L. (2021) Post-industrial Masculinities and Gym Culture: Graft, Craft and Fraternity. The British Journal of Sociology, 73, 220-236.
Kam, I. C. P. (2020). Being bitchy and feminine: unfolding the postfeminist account in Hong Kong’s CosmoGirl!. Journal of Gender Studies, 29(4), 431-442.
Lee, T. K. (2020). Disciplining women in Hong Kong: The discourse of ‘Kong girl’ in the media and daily life. East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 6(1), 9-25.
Peirson-Smith, A. & J. Craik (2020) Transforming sustainable fashion in a decolonial context: The case of redress in Hong Kong. Fashion Theory, 24(6), pp.921-946.
Rochelle, T. L., & Hu, W. Y. (2017). Media influence on drive for thinness, body satisfaction, and eating attitudes among young women in Hong Kong and China. Psychology, health & medicine, 22(3), 310-318.
Song, K. Y., & Velding, V. (2020). Transnational masculinity in the eyes of local beholders? Young Americans’ perception of K-pop masculinities. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 28(1), 3-21.
Yakalı, D. (2024) “He is just Ken:” deconstructing hegemonic masculinity in Barbie (2023 Movie). Frontiers in Sociology, 9, p.1320774.
Wolf, N. (1993) The beauty myth : how images of beauty are used against women. Extracts from pp.179-187. 1st Anchor Books ed. New York: Anchor Books.
Offer Semester | Lecture Day | Lecture Time | Venue | Credits awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st semester | Wednesday | 13:00 – 14:50 | KB223 | 6 |
