Conference Presentations by Amanda Pinto
Shiloh Whitney writes: “[s]he works to cultivate the affect she displays in her postures and gest... more Shiloh Whitney writes: “[s]he works to cultivate the affect she displays in her postures and gestures such that it is not quarantined on her bodily surfaces but takes root in the proverbial ‘gut,’” but I ask: what if it is in the literal gut? If we take seriously the ways that affective labor shapes the production of subjectivity, why wouldn’t it shape the production of physiological habits? In this paper, I examine the interactions between affective labor and gastrointestinal health through female embodiment. I argue that, to an extent, the affective labor of women influences their embodiment and that this embodiment then causes the gastrointestinal disorders that are prevalent in women. I begin with discussing Affective Labor and how negative affects are “dumped” on certain bodies, women in my analysis, and how the recipient then absorbs these affects. This results in a management of “unwanted” or “waste” affects, which I develop from Shiloh Whitney. I then give an account of functional gastrointestinal disorders to demonstrate the prevalence of disorders in women. Finally, I end by exploring the interactions between gastrointestinal health and affective labor through embodiment, looking at female tightness, affective indigestion, and gastrointestinal actions. Much of my connections are more theoretical, but points to areas that are deserving of future research.
The affective economy and its management has become an important site for the neoliberal subjects... more The affective economy and its management has become an important site for the neoliberal subjects success. The management of affects ties directly in with understandings of health if we look at the concept of “stress.” Stress is both a physiological activity while also being an affective one. Not only is stress impacted by hormones in the body, but also by a person’s understanding and reaction to certain stress-causing events. I make two main claims in this paper: I begin with a conception of stress as a type of “slow death,” developed from Lauren Berlant. Secondly, I will demonstrate how mindfulness as stress management becomes a capacitation machine, developed from Jasbir K. Puar’s conception of debility and capacity. The ability for certain groups to be folded into control economies, through mindfulness, is a racializing technology, in which those who are able to both feel and manage stress are white subjects.
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Conference Presentations by Amanda Pinto