{"id":68,"date":"2025-09-27T11:33:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/?p=68"},"modified":"2025-09-27T11:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:43:07","slug":"negotiating-the-body-between-expression-and-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/archives\/68","title":{"rendered":"Negotiating the Body: Between Expression and Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/mqPJiyJwTVvtSuQgM4\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Our group presented our analysis and explication through a podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/mqPJiyJwTVvtSuQgM4\">https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/mqPJiyJwTVvtSuQgM4<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"724\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/files\/2025\/09\/body-cover-1024x724.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-81\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/files\/2025\/09\/body-cover-1024x724.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/files\/2025\/09\/body-cover-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/files\/2025\/09\/body-cover-768x543.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/files\/2025\/09\/body-cover-1536x1086.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/files\/2025\/09\/body-cover.png 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Our perceptions of the human body evolve across time periods and diversify across cultures. As technology advances, artificial intelligence and the ability to have multiple online personas complexify our view of the body as a mode for self-expression. Some even theorize the body will be replaced by \u201ccomputational or other machinic embodiment\u201d; this could appear as \u201cbrain layers\u201d being transferred to \u201chard drives\u201d in order to streamline knowledge exchange (Wegenstein 27). In these times of \u201cdisembodiment\u201d, we must critically examine the importance of the tangible human body as a mode of communication (27). At first, our group was confused by the concept of being detached from the body; this prediction by Wegenstein and several theorists felt dystopian and unrealistic. However, we later realized this is exactly what Wegenstein aims to convey; she hopes to demonstrate the \u201cfrightening\u201d, \u201cposthuman\u2019\u201d, and \u201cantihumanist\u201d nature of this prediction (27).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Connections with other Critical Terms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After watching other groups\u2019 presentations, I found our chapter connected to the presentation on Chapter 12: New Media. The presenters noted that all media is in a sense \u201cnew\u201d, as media of all ages has always had moments of \u201cnewness\u201d. Although our chapter heavily focuses on defining the body as a medium, I believe the body can also constitute \u201cnew media\u201d, as it is always being reinvented due to cultural precedents. Here, Hansen\u2019s emphasis on affect and bodily <em>experience<\/em> of computation in \u201cNew Media\u201d&nbsp; underwrites Wegenstein\u2019s claim that the body is not post-media but <em>in<\/em> media. Because of the heavily politicized nature in which bodies have existed through centuries, our chapter also connects to the \u201cLaw\u201d chapter which emphasizes how legal codes inscribe and regulate bodies i.e determining which bodies are visible, legitimate, or deviant. Hence, we see the connection that the media <em>produces <\/em>bodies as aw <em>policies<\/em>. A striking example of this is cosmetic surgery\u2013a regulated practice (with you can cut what is allowed and malpractice frameworks). Here we see the interplay of law and bodies as mediums of production.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Podcast Brief<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Through this podcast, we explore the discussion of \u2018The Body\u2019 chapter through summary, analysis, and drawing connection to our experiences and other media. We seek to answer the following questions:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If the body is always already mediated, is there such a thing as an \u201cauthentic\u201d body at all?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How does the body influence culture and how does culture influence the body?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the body is our first medium, what is one way you consciously use your body to communicate or express identity?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Our exploration of Wegenstein\u2019s <em>Body<\/em> highlights how embodiment is never static but continually shaped by technology, culture, and law. Although it initially felt dystopian to explore the idea of disembodiment and machinic embodiment, we now see how it becomes predictive once we recognize it as a provocation to think critically about what makes the body meaningful. By situating the body alongside \u201cnew media\u201d and legal frameworks, we see it not only as a vessel of self expression but also as a contested site of regulation, reinvention, and power.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Podcast link: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/mqPJiyJwTVvtSuQgM4\">https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/mqPJiyJwTVvtSuQgM4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contributors: Stuti Sharma, Dea Yu, Emily Shin, Kimchi Tran<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wegenstein, Bernadette. \u201cBody.\u201d <em>Critical Terms for Media Studies<\/em>, edited by W.J.T. Mitchell and Mark B.N. Hansen, U of Chicago P, 2010, pp. 19-34.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>StrawberryJello. \u201cA Cold but Warm Winter ~Snow World~.&#8221;, <em>SoundCloud<\/em>, no. 8, 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/strawberryjello\/008-snow-world-yume-nikki-ost\">https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/strawberryjello\/008-snow-world-yume-nikki-ost<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our group presented our analysis and explication through a podcast: https:\/\/on.soundcloud.com\/mqPJiyJwTVvtSuQgM4 Our perceptions of the human body evolve across time periods and diversify across cultures. As technology advances, artificial intelligence and the ability to have multiple online personas complexify our view of the body as a mode for self-expression. Some even theorize the body will &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/archives\/68\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Negotiating the Body: Between Expression and Control<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103529,"featured_media":83,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[17,20,21,7,8,22,18],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critical-concept-explication","tag-body","tag-embodiment","tag-intersectionality","tag-mass-media","tag-media-theory","tag-posthumanism","tag-wegenstein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103529"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}