We do not choose our bodies, which precede us. And we look at our bodies through the lenses of our culture; we move them in ways that derive from our daily lives; we experience them through the emotional codes we learn from childhood. Even more importantly, our gender leads us to show emotions in a distinct way, adopt different bodily controls, and take on different roles. The body is immersed in a sophisticated social construction, actively shaped by our everyday choices and institutions’ implicit or imperative demands.

Rossella Ghigi teaches Sociology of the Family and Gender Differences at the University of Bologna.

Roberta Sassatelli teaches Sociology and Consumer Culture at the University of Milan.