Bodies Will Be Bodies?: A Case for Legitimate Body Objectiveness

Abstract

Confined in spatiotemporal structures and relations, the body is caught in the linearity of economic production and the rigidity of ideological imperatives. In this setup, the objectiveness of the body is suspected of putting a person to a limit. This further interrogates and accuses the body of facilitating its own objectification. Here, I challenged prominent objections to the objectiveness of the body, particularly those coming from Marcel and the early/material feminist traditions. I then put forward a case in which the active-operative instrumentalization of the body is legitimized sans discounting the body as an addendum or mere physical extension. Further, I qualify the ‘use’ of the body as a corporealized medium and embodied instrument that activates a profound encounter and sharing of the world with other bodies.