THE PHYSICAL SELF
 The self is the sum total of all that man
Introduction to the Physical Self
 Our physical self is mostly represented
by our face. (our face gives initial
impression)
 It gives other people a first impression
about who we are and what we are.
 How we look give initial clues about our
attitudes and the cosmetics (these are
part of our physical self) put onto our
faces may give hints about our
economic status in life.
 It is undeniable to most of us that we
give too much attention to our faces
than any other part of our body from
the time we wake up to the moment
before we sleep. (includes hygiene)
 Our face is the primary part of our body
that we protect in times of danger.
 We do not want any scars inflicted on
any part of our face and admittedly,
many of us are willing to spend money
to make it pleasing to other people.
 We maintain a face value because we
consider our face as our initial asset.
 Before other people can discover our
true attitude and capabilities, they first
rely on what they can physically see.
 The way we take care of ourselves,
especially our faces, represents the
kind of personality we have.
 It is no wonder that people spend
significant amounts of money just to
make themselves beautiful.
1. The Self as Impacted by the Body
 Through the years, the concept of
physical self has gained a considerable
attention in the fields of Psychology
(how we behave), Sociology (how do
we interact), and Anthropology (we
study culture), including religious and
biological or health studies
 These disciplines agree is an important
component in the study of the person’s
self and identity.
Sanjay Singh
 The Physical Self refers to the body, a
marvelous container and complex,
finely timed machine with which we
interface with our environment and
fellow beings
 The Physical Self is the concrete
dimension, the tangible aspect of a
person that can be directly observed
and examined. (basta nakikita natin)
William James
call his, which includes his body, family
and reputation, also his clothes and his
house. (every thing you can call mine is
a part of who you are)
 James considered body as the initial
source of sensation and necessary for
the origin and maintenance of
personality. (hindi ka magsusuot ng
fitted na damit if alam mong hindi mo
bagay)
 However, James considered body as
subservient to the mind e.g., mental
concentration can be so tightly
focused... as not only to banish
ordinary sensations, but even the
severest pain.
 A simple example could be the
numerous reports of soldiers in the
battle or a boxer in the ring who suffer
severe wounds but were not notice of
them until the intensity of the fighting
abates.
 For James, the body is an expressive
tool of indwelling consciousness and
good physical health. It is an element of
spiritual hygiene of supreme
significance.
Russell W. Belk
 Such body, family, clothes, and the like
are also described as part of our
Extended Self.
 The concrete or tangible aspect or
dimension of the person which is
primarily observed (use of senses) and
examined through the body is known
as the physical self.
Sigmund Freud
 Construction of self and personality
makes the physical body the core of
human experience.
 Freud was of the view that the ego is
first and foremost a body ego.
 However, in spite of Freud’s recognition
of the centrality of body, his own
writings on therapy rarely discussed it.
Erik Erikson
 He mentioned that experience is
anchored in the ground-plan of body.
 According to him, the role of bodily
organs is especially important in early
developmental stages of a person’s life.
 Later in life, the development of
physical as well as intellectual skills
help determine whether an individual
will achieve a sense of competency
 and ability to choose demanding roles
in a complex society.
 For example, healthy children derive a
sense of competence as their bodies
become larger, stronger, faster and
more capable of learning complex skills.
 However, as a stage theorist, Erikson is
aware of the constant interaction of the
body, psychological processes and
social forces.
 He acknowledges the classical
Freudian view of fundamental biological
drives but insists that these drives are
socially modifiable.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
 He placed the body at the center of
human existence, as a way of
experiencing the world.
 Such ideas make clear to us the fact
that the body is the way through which
we make sense of the world and our
environment. We experience life
through our bodies and senses (sight,
smell, touch, etc.), allowing us to
interpret the world around us.
 However, the body is not merely an
object in the world but we are also our
bodies in that the body is the vehicle for
our expression in the world.
 The body is the sight for the articulation
of all our identifications of gender, class,
sexuality, race, ethnicity and religion.
The emergence of “body culture”
 from the late 1970s to 1980s,
humanities and sociology developed a
new and broader interest in the body.
 sociologists, historians, philosophers,
and anthropologists, including scholars
from sport studies and medical studies
spoke about this interest on the body
which was then called then called
“body culture”
 the sociologists, Ulrich Beck and
Anthony Giddens, agree in saying
that the body is the only fix-point of
“self-identity”
 studies also show that one of the
visible and deeper changes in relation
to the modern body concerns the dress
reform and the appearance of the
naked body
 the change from noble pale skin to
suntanned skin as a “sportive”
distinction was not only linked to sport,
but had a strong impact on society as a
whole
 the change of appreciated body color
reversed the social-bodily distinctions
between people and classes, and
nudism became a radical expression of
this body-cultural change
THE MALE IDEAL “Adonis” body built
THE FEMALE IDEAL “coca-cola contoured
figure”
 Body image is both internal (personal)
and external (society)
 inner beauty - inner qualities of the
person
 external beauty - physical
characteristics of the person; physical
features of the body (a combination of
qualities, which includes shape, color,
or form that pleases the aesthetic
senses, especially the sight)
 Body image - perception that a person
has of their physical self and the
thoughts and feelings that result from
that perception
 Body image - lies at the heart of
adolescence
 Body image - mental representation of
one’s own body
4 FACTORS
 See (Perceptual Body Image) - not
always a correct representation of how
you actually look
 Feel (Affective Body Image) - the
amount of satisfaction of dissatisfaction
you feel about your
 Think (Cognitive Body Image) - can
lead to preoccupation with body shape
and weight
 Behaviors (Behavioral Body Image) -
when a person is dissatisfied, they may
isolate themselves because they feel
about about their appearance
THE PROMISE OF AN “AESTHETIC
CAPITAL”
 Aesthetic Capital - the presence of
aesthetically based cultural goods and
their ever-increasing influence in
modern society poses a new
conceptual opportunity to sociology
 Samantha Lovascio - “visually
appealing traits greatly impact our lives”
 halo effect - associating good looks
with other positive qualities
THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF “BODY IMAGE”
AND “SELF-ESTEEM”
 Culture - the shared patterns of
thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and habits
in both material and symbolic realms
 Culture - includes language,
technology, economic, political and
educational systems, religious and
aesthetic patterns, social structures
and so on
 Culture - widely recognized by social
scientists that the self is shaped, in part,
through interaction with groups
WE ARE ALL BODY-BUILDERS
 Body adornment - the practice of
physically enhancing the body;
temporary
 Body modification - physical
alteration of the body; permanent
 Female genital mutilation -
involves the partial or total removal
of external female genitalia or
other injury to the female genital
organs for non-medical reasons;
between infancy and age 15;
violation of the human rights of
girls and women
POP CULTURE
 has some effects such as the way
teenagers think of themselves, how
they associate with others, and how
they express characteristics of their
maturation
 a culture widely accepted and
patronized by the public as in pop
music which is very appealing to the
youth
 Self-definition - the way a person sees
himself
 can provide benchmarks which become
the teenagers’ basis of their self-
definition
 Annie Lennox - “stuff that fuels the
fashion and beauty industries”
THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON THE
ADOLESCENT’S UNDERSTATING OF
BEAUTY
 Internet - most frequently used media
with the respondents using it often
 Magazines - strongest negative
relationship with the weight of the
respondents
THE IMPACT OF MEDIA ON THE SELF-
ESTEEM OF THE ADOLESCENT
 Boys body image is generally more
positive than girls, and boys are much
more likely to welcome weight gain.
 Cultural Ideal Hypothesis - puberty
brings boys closer to their ideal body
while girls shift further from theirs;
“adolescent girls should more likely to
express body dissatisfaction and resort
to dieting”
 Cultural Ideal - male bodies be big and
strong while ideal female bodies in
Western (and Asian) culture is slim
WHO’S TO BLAME FOR OUR BODY
PERCEPTIONS?
 Media – powerful tools that reinforces
cultural beliefs and values, they make
escaping the barrage of images and
attitudes almost impossible
 Prejudice - Size – “being thin, tones,
and muscular has become associated
with the hard-working, successful,
popular, beautiful, strong, and the
disciplined. being fat is associated with
lazy, ugly, weak, and lacking in will-
power.”
 Those closest to us - family and
friends – Classrooms, university dorms,
and common rooms are often filled with
negative body talk: "I wish I had her
stomach" "I hate my thighs," "I feel fat."
Listening to this tends to reinforce the
need to focus on appearance and
make comparisons between us and
other people's bodies.
 Live Life Get Active – social initiative
built to create a fitter, healthier, and
happier lifestyle
SELF-ESTEEM AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
 Self-esteem - self-worth, self-respect
 Too little self-esteem - can leave
people feeling defeated or depressed
 Too much self-esteem - exhibited in
narcissistic personality disorder, can be
irritating to others
THE CONCEPT OF SELF-ESTEEM
 Self-esteem - describe a person’s
overall sense of self-worth or personal
value; it is how much you appreciate
and like yourself; tends to be stable
and enduring; one of the basic human
motivations (maslow)
SEXUAL SELF SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

Sexuality
 one of the fundamental drives behind
everyone’s feelings, thoughts, and
behaviors
 defines the means of biological
reproduction
 describes psychological and
sociological representations of self, and
orients a person’s attraction to others
 shapes the brain and body to be
pleasure-seeking
 sensitive topic for personal or scientific
inquiry
 “the ways people experience and
express themselves as sexual beings”
 central aspect of being human
throughout life encompasses sex,
gender identities and roles, sexual
orientation, eroticism, pleasure,
intimacy and reproduction
 experienced and expressed in thoughts,
fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes,
values, behaviors, practices, roles and
relationships

Sex
 influences the way we dress, talk, and
behave
 defines who we are
 Karl Pribram - sex as one four basic
human drive states
 Drive states - motivate us to
accomplish goals; linked to our survival
 Karl Pribram - feeding, fighting, fleeing,
and sex are the four drives behind
every thought, feeling, and behavior,
and these drives are so closely
associated with our psychological and
physical health
 Ignorance about sex and sexuality is
deadly and may cause serious
problems.
 Sex education is not to promote sexual
intercourse but to promote good sexual
health and safety from sexual violence.
 Genderbread Person
 Gender Identity – woman-ness
and man-ness
 Gender Expression – feminine
and masculine
 Biological Sex – female-ness and
male-ness
 Sexually Attracted to –
women/females/femininity and
men/males/masculinity