The Physical Body in Social Interaction — Between Stigmatisation and Acceptance

Abstract

The starting point for this article is Erving Goffman’s concept of stigma. Referring to her own surveys, the author analyses Tseëlon’s claim that the physical body can be treated as a stigma. She considers which aspects of the body – e.g. the natural odour, old age, illness or the absence of depilation – stigmatises a person most, and in which social groups. The explanation is that it depends on different approaches to the body and treating it as inherited vs. achieved.