Womanhood & the Body: An investigation of experience, community, and reclamation, through Practice as Research.

This thesis interrogates two central arguments in relation to Feminism,<br/>through Practice as Research (PaR). Firstly, I propose a return to the<br/>body in Feminist theory as a way of reclaiming it from the violence of<br/>society and its participants – specifically from the societal violence of<br/>negative ‘body image’ and the physical violence of sexual assault and<br/>male-body bias. Secondly, I question the notion of a ‘shared experience’<br/>of womanhood, investigating the ethics of this sentiment – which implies<br/>that universality undermines complex and crucial intersectionality – in<br/>contrast to the evidence that, for some women, this shared experience is<br/>part of the experience of womanhood.<br/>The PaR element of this research includes reflections on performer<br/>journals and audience responses to a devised work-in-progress<br/>performance. The performance was devised using physical theatres to<br/>explore the themes of womanhood. The creative themes were derived<br/>from field research, in the form of a survey, which asked women to<br/>reflect on their relationship with their body.<br/>I entered this research asking what physical theatres can offer<br/>Feminist narratives onstage but, as I began to explore phenomenology,<br/>my research evolved into a question of what it is to experience<br/>womanhood. Through an organic process of discovery, the research led to<br/>a return to a Feminism that considers the body as a central aspect of<br/>women’s experiences, and a reclamation of the body by women. This<br/>thesis will evaluate the theoretical and practical research elements, and<br/>analyse what they offer to this line of inquiry.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Master of Research (awarded by UHI)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Master's Thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of the Highlands and Islands

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Walker, Laura

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Mickel, Lesley
• Jennings, Andrew

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

oai:pure.atira.dk:studenttheses/f9cbefe4-d686-44b9-905e-b9851296a03f

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:pure.atira.dk:studenttheses/f9cbefe4-d686-44b9-905e-b9851296a03f