Death i feel is an elastic term. (So is the term body i guess). When you are dead though, you are dead– you cannot feel anything, you dont know anything. The individuals death is irrelevent to him/herslef. Social death, a life bereft of meaning or living, is far more grave than physical death.
Hockey and James state that:
“With the emphasis on young, healthy, sexually attractive bodies, comes the assumption that those with imperfect bodies have a lesser social presence.” – (1993, cited in Hallen:2001:66).
Here, they aknowledge that in society, our bodies are empty voids when we are aesthetic disatisfying. uglyness, and unattractivness are undesired attributes, therefore we shun and discount people who arn’t able to reach certain aesthetic standards.
In contrast, youth and beauty is glorified. iconic figures who have successed in resisting the aging process are praised. Prime examples are Madonna, Demi Moore, Ana Wintour, Goldie Hawne, George Cloony and so on. The most prominant role model at the moment is without a doubt supermodel Agnus Dean, who has glorified, simply because she is beautiful and full of spark.
Celebrities though who put on weight or have a bad sense of style/dress sense are ridiculled, deemed socially inept. Although media outlets, notably gossip magazines, do this for ecconomic benefits, they symbolise the way we ourselves shun ordinary people if they arn’t groomed and beautiful without even knowing it. In this sence, these people have commited a “social death”, no longer worthy of any real status.
Zadie Smith’s novel “On Beauty” illistrates this notion perfectly. There is a moment when lecturer notices a group of college girls walk past, and notes that:
“They were smooth and bright and their timing was wonderful, and they were youg and halerious. it was really something to see, they thought, and this was why they spoke loudly, and guestered, inviting onlookers to admire”
It is in this moment when not only does the lecturer fully understand the power of youth’s beauty, but also that the girls themselves are quite aware of their presence.
It is in this sense, our idea of “alive”, “human” and “worthyness”, are constantly overshaddowed with notions of beauty.
