October Blog Post

For this blog entry I decided to write about the concept from chapter eight of "docile bodies."

This was an extremely interesting part of the book for me to read, because being twenty one and fully in the groove of college I simply don't stop to think about those kinds of things anymore, even though I certainly experience the problems that arise.

I began going to school when I was fourteen years old and I have almost always said that even though I thoroughly enjoyed my high school experience, and I certainly wouldn't take it back, I absolutely think I saw a decline in my overall intelligence. Sure I got good grades, and learned how to take tests (well sort of), but I have always understood that the real problem arose from the specific "molding" for lack of a better word that was done to our brains in the public school system. However, after reading the bit about Foucault's interpretation of creating these docile bodies I am starting to wonder just how much of a role that actually played. The book says that these institutions "teach us to focus on our ideas and our minds by restricting how we move or draw attention to our bodies." This bit in particular made me immediately start to go back and think about the point in which I started to go to school and go through this process of sitting in a desk every day, and also the point in which I saw myself change...they are definitely one and the same.

The book talks about how we are taught to forget our bodies. And how while this may seem like a negative thing (it is), there are actually advantages to this learned behavior. It discusses "blending in with a crowd" and essentially becoming what the professor needs, but then a more important issue is brought up and that is that "those who benefit most from an exclusive focus on the mind are those who make decisions regarding what is best for others. Now while this is more or less talking about the situation of being in an institution, which I suppose is meant to be a place with someone who knows more about whatever it is you are doing, I have to say I disagree. It just brings into question even more the subject of power--and while yes, in many cases there are people who are perhaps better equipped to guide you in whatever you are trying to accomplish, there are far too many situations where this is not the case. Yet we are all taught to "forget our bodies" and focus entirely on our minds in nearly every institutionalized situation possible. Throughout my high school experience, I had about three or four memorable teachers. And thinking back now, they were the people who sort of "invited" me to step away from the constructs of the public high school experience and gather ideas from sources other than just the mind.

I feel like we are in a time where the education system is becoming more and more aware of this, and I do think we are in for a subtle but needed change. However, the fact that so many kids are still forced (in a way) to separate their beings into contrasting parts, when really they should be learning to work with both their mind and body to overcome challenges, gets to me.