Michelle

Like a couple of the authors mentioned already, the word, "body," is quite "elusive" and "ubiquitous."

If you look up the definition on dictionary.com, there are nearly 30 explanations of the word!

–noun

1.	the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead.
2.	a corpse; carcass.
3.	the trunk or main mass of a thing: the body of a tree.
4.	Anatomy, Zoology. the physical structure of a human being or animal, not including the head, limbs, and tail; trunk; torso.
5.	Architecture. the principal mass of a building.
6.	the section of a vehicle, usually in the shape of a box, cylindrical container, or platform, in or on which passengers or the load is carried.
7.	Nautical. the hull of a ship.
8.	Aeronautics. the fuselage of a plane.
9.	Printing. the shank of a type, supporting the face.
10.	Geometry. a figure having the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thickness; a solid.
11.	Physics. a mass, esp. one considered as a whole.
12.	the major portion of an army, population, etc.: The body of the American people favors the president's policy.
13.	the principal part of a speech or document, minus introduction, conclusion, indexes, etc.
14.	a person: She's a quiet sort of body.
15.	Law. the physical person of an individual.
16.	a collective group: student body; corporate body.
17.	Astronomy. an object in space, as a planet or star.
18.	a separate physical mass or quantity, esp. as distinguished from other masses or quantities.
19.	consistency or density; richness; substance: This wine has good body. Wool has more body than rayon.
20.	the part of a dress that covers the trunk or the part of the trunk above the waist.
21.	Ceramics. the basic material of which a ceramic article is made.

–verb (used with object)

22.	to invest with or as with a body.
23.	to represent in bodily form (usually fol. by forth).

–adjective

24.	of or pertaining to the body; bodily.
25.	of or pertaining to the main reading matter of a book, article, etc., as opposed to headings, illustrations, or the like.

—Idioms

26.	in a body, as a group; together; collectively: We left the party in a body.
27.	keep body and soul together, to support oneself; maintain life: Few writers can make enough to keep body and soul together without another occupation.

I find definitions 22, 23, and 24 hard to grasp, since body is still undefined.

I know that wikipedia.org isn't the greatest source of information, but I wanted to see what they wrote for the word and here's what it says: "With regard to living things, a body is the physical body of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death. The study of the workings of the body is physiology."

When I read this, it reminded me of the first week's reading and the 2nd week's last article that talked a bit about Egyptian rituals... Susie Orbach presented the hype of society's recent obsession with the body and appearance, and also later talked about issues of health when the patient, Andrew, was mentioned. (I still can't grasp/understand how Andrew's situation relates to someone who wants to change his/her gender.) But anyways, back to health and death, I was reminded of the Egyptian boy who was extravagantly buried, which relates back to appearance?

I think what I'm trying to say is that these three subjects were covered in the readings and society has a big impact on them.

Relating back to the case of Andrew, for some reason I was thinking about the function of the body and mind as one thing. In order for Andrew to be psychologically happy, he needed to cut of his legs. Something in his brain was triggering like that of the person who was trying to get the waitress' attention at the restaurant, and his legs weren't necessary/were getting in the way.

The mind and body as one relate in Egyptian culture/belief system that as Lynn Meskell explains, "death itself was a transitory state and it did not prevent people from involving themselves in the world of living" (13). In fact, they are part of the same world.

It seems like one of the main arguments is that the body is not just a direction but essential in coexisting with the mind as a perfomer in society.