Bound to Please: The Shaping of Female Beauty, Gender Theory, Structural Violence, and Bioarchaeological Investigations

Abstract

Examination of direct forms of control in the bioarchaeological record has been limited to physical violence identified as traumatic bodily injury, and seen on the skeleton as healed defensive fracturing, cut marks, blunt force trauma, and in some cases, burial position. But there are indirect modes of control that present as skeletal deformation that occur over long periods of time, but are not often included in the suite of bioarchaeological indicators of violence. This “chronic violence” manifests as both physiological and psychological control, and when read properly can reveal structural inequalities that are often disguised as either expected social performance as dictated by the elite or ruling class or as social control over those on the margins: purposeful pain. Until recently, these markers of social control have lacked a strong framework for consideration in bioarchaeology. This chapter explores how purposeful pain can be read in the subornation of females, as reflected in the cultural performance of beauty. Weaving together skeletal markers of deformation, ethnology, and historic contexts, the structural violence inherent in the performance of beauty, through the binding and shaping of the female body to fit social standards, is revealed. Examples of indirect cultural violence that asserts control over female bodies, specifically foot-binding, neck rings, and corset use, are examined through the physical body as well as the narratives of mothers who engage in these practices to assure that their daughters adhere to social expectations. These examples also offer a new way to consider how androcentric typological approaches have been widely accepted as truth and continue to be used to support the notion that females are truly problematized by their physical body, instead of considering the complexities of social performance and identity. Weaving embodiment and gender theory with structural violence theory, bioarchaeological analysis can reveal how indirect cultural violence that asserts control over female bodies forged in the industrial era has influenced how females in the archaeological record have been, and continue to be, assessed.