‘Do You Not Know that Your Bodies are Members of Christ?’: Towards a Christian Body Politics and the Cultural Practice of Cosmetic Surgery

The contemporary rise in the West of cosmetic surgery as a cultural practice expresses the story of the late modern self as autonomous renovator, and the body as disenchanted raw material and individual possession. Technological biomedicine offers itself as the institution ready to assist this refle...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Greig, Jason Reimer (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2017]
In: Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2017, Volume: 30, Issue: 4, Pages: 407-428
IxTheo Classification:CB Christian life; spirituality
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
NBE Anthropology
NCH Medical ethics
Further subjects:B cosmetic surgery
B Christians
B Sacramentals
B Bioethics
B footwashing
B Self
B Body
B PLASTIC surgery
B THEORY of self-knowledge
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The contemporary rise in the West of cosmetic surgery as a cultural practice expresses the story of the late modern self as autonomous renovator, and the body as disenchanted raw material and individual possession. Technological biomedicine offers itself as the institution ready to assist this reflexive self in aligning the body to an individual’s inner identity. A Christian body politics, however, challenges this narrative of the human person, by claiming that gift and dependence more aptly represent human being than possession and autonomy. The rite of footwashing, particularly as articulated by Jean Vanier and practised in the communities of L’Arche, represents a sacramental practice which forms Christians in a different narrative of the body and being human. Footwashing reminds and trains members of the Body in a non-violent gentleness towards all bodies, and a recognition of humans as creatures of a good God rather than mere possessors of inert flesh.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0953946816680137