Analysis Of Michel Foucault s The Of The Docile Women

Though Bartkey’s argument demonstrates logic and cohesive arguments, she fails to impress readers with her solution to end the legacy of the docile women. Sandra Bartkey commences her argument with an introduction to Michel Foucault. She explains how Foucault demonstrates the presence of self-policing in society through the usage of the Panopticon. The Panopticon is a prison where there stands one central guard tower and rows of prison cells surrounding the tower. Sunlight shines into the cells creating a clear view for the guards that enables them to perceive everything that occurs in these cells. Though the scarcity of guards limits the amount of prisoners that can be viewed at one time, the prisoners feel watched at all times.†¦show more content†¦Hence, even though a liberatory note is sounded in Foucault’s critique of power, his analysis, as a whole reproduces that sexism which is endemic throughout Western political.† (169). In summary, women remain considerably further prone to self-policing themselves to become the docile woman – a standard in society today. The first way women police themselves happens through media, diet and exercise. Bartkey defines the standard for women’s figures today, by saying â€Å"The current body of fashion is taunt, small breasted, narrow-hipped, and of a slimness bordering on emancipation; it is a silhouette that seems more appropriate to an adolescent boy or a newly pubescent girl than to an adult woman. Since ordinary women have normally quite different dimensions, they must of course diet† (170). The author states that due to many women not fitting this model-like image, they are forced to diet and exercise. The exercises that women partake in are designed to slim the body down in certain areas – the hips, thighs, etc. – to ensure they fit this body standard, therefore policing themselves to fit society’s standards. The second way women police themselves happens through body and facial constriction. Women sit with their legs crossed, their arms in their lap and hunched over, while men are known to sit with their legs widely spread out. The women’s smaller posture only builds on the idea that they are meant to be