Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

The form of the form of the form; the form of the form should conform to your form and the color of the form should conform to your color (or the color you presumably fictively in actual reality are, perhaps). On your form you should confess your form and your color and the forms and colors of the other forms that sprung from your form (your little forms). If you are an unmarried form there is a separate form with corresponding color, though colored forms should refer themsel (f) (ves) 21048 to the blank form and fill in their color in the appropriate box.

The form of your work should transform the second page of this for(u)m - please record the forms your work takes and the way in which your body is (con) <> (trans) <> formed by the process.

If your state of mind is yet unformed, attach a form stating clearly your formlessness and the unformed ideas which will maybe always sometimes strike you in the future, especially if you are a pauper.

Are you a pauper?

If you are a homeless child, please roll your left index finger in dirt and wipe it in the mud-shaped box on the front of this form. Please then take your nose and roll it also in the dirt and place the imprint on the 2econd (Twond) (deuxieme) form (this has been previously heretofore dirt-rolled, for consistency and your convenience) and we will decide the form your form should take once it arrives at our offices.

Race: <> on your mark      Color: <> mauve

            <> get set                             <> neon green

            <> go                                   <> plaid

It was nearly empty, being another drizzling Monday night. I liked his looks, the shape of his face, the tiredness in his eyes, his quietness. I found, inevitably, an opportunity to speak to him. I mentioned that I hadn't seen him before and that on a drizzling Monday night mostly just regulars come by.

"I'm from out of town." he said, slightly defensive, or maybe his voice only sounded that way. He looked quite tired, that's for sure.

"What on earth could you be doing here in Fairborn? There's hardly anything here." I said.

"Oh? I haven't looked really. I got here today and I'm leaving early tomorrow."

"On some kind of business?" I asked, very interested now, because there is no business in Fairborn.

Perhaps he saw my question as suspicion. He shifted his body back towards the bar, starring at the bottles lining the wall.

He must've worked hard to look so tired, but I couldn't imagine what work he could find for one day around here.

After a few minutes he turned abruptly back towards me. "I'll tell you, because I'm about to leave and I know you're curious. Although it's all very boring to me. Except on rare occasions."

I didn't say anything.

"I'm a census taker. From Centerville. That's why I'm here."

"Hmm." is all I said.

categorizing, using forms or form structure can be beneficial . . .it just depends on who's using it and why.  No one can really say what's "good" or "bad" when it comes to a form, or what information is truly relevant, or why the information is being asked of one.  My only concern is that the idea of categorization of information is not necessarily subjecting people as puppets on a string, or invading their privacy. . .but maybe so people may have access to information in a clearer fashion, that they may be able to assess the information if it's organized logically.  This, of course, coming from a really not left-brained person. . .

This is my very long Beauty Parlor observation on the Computer Lab.

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essays/taliban.aspx

*Note* Requires sound.

Here is a link to a Magnum Photo essay about a cache of secret photos of Taliban members. The Taliban prohibits most photography, but there exists a collection used for identification annnd, secretly, self-fashioning.

http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/histofsex/context.html

 

if you need any translation like me, this site might help.

courtney

I’ve been thinking a bit about assumptions since reading Melanie’s post (http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/e-corpus-3-assumptions). This isn’t a direct response, it’s simply my own thoughts about assumptions as they’ve been influenced by Foucault.

People have often told me that they didn’t want to assume that I’m gay. However, I want people to make this assumption about me. If you don’t assume that I’m gay, then I have to come out to you. I’ve been coming out to people since I was 14 and I’m tired of it. I’ve thought about it for a while as the difference between coming out and being out. Since reading the first half of The History of Sexuality, I’ve made the connection that coming out is a form of confession. Before coming out to someone, I would have to be conscious of the fact that person doesn’t know I’m gay, which alters my behavior and how I act. The discourse of coming out makes being gay a secret identity that you hold inside until you loudly proclaim it. When people don’t want to assume that someone is gay, they aren’t being respectful of the person’s secret identity. They’re asserting the normalness and preferedness of being straight (would it really be that bad to assume a straight person was gay?), and they’re also assigning being gay to a category of identities that need to be confessed.

I make assumptions about people every day based on their appearance and behavior. Maybe that makes me awful, but I think most people do. I don’t think there is a true, inner identity that is separate from appearance and behavior. Foucault critiques the whole idea of identity, revealing it as a normalizing construct. I think that what is “true” about a person, what constitutes their “identity,” is the way they construct their appearance, the behaviors they choose to display. If I were to studiously avoid assuming things about people based on appearance and behavior, I would be affirming the normalizing discourse of inner identity.

*

I gained alot by the beauty parlor on doors. It has made me experiment a little with peoples reactions to alternate was of using them. I have started to use doors as a point to slow down, it seems as though people are view doors as an obstacle to overcome and fined the fastest way through but I have started looking at doors as a point to slow down and take time and intention in life. I now press the handicap button and wait patiently for the door to open and reflect on the reasons why I don't have to rush. There also a point of decision for me. before I pass through a door I must determine weather it is the way I should really go. If indeterminate about my destination I am forced to make up my mind before going in or out that door. There are many other intentional and fun ways to interact with doors please share your thoughts on some of them.  

Rhyming Paper 1