Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Communication, Professional
Date of Award
5-2015
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Amber Kinser
Committee Members
Andrew Herrmann, Patrick Cronin
Abstract
This autoethnographic study is an attempt to humanize the deviant behaviors and bodies of eating disordered and physically disabled persons in Western culture. The narratives included within are from the author’s own personal experiences as a heterosexual, eating disordered, disabled man. The narratives unfold chronologically in ways that explicate the transitions between identities and the onset and acceptance of each. The goal of this study is to unveil aspects of both eating disorders and disabilities as they relate to the locus of attention surrounding individuals that experience them. The researcher argues that the attention a deviant body draws from others may form the deviant body as a spectacle that can be either eagerly sought after, or reluctantly ascribed to, the individual that holds it.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Manning, Taylor C., "Obstacles, Transitions, & Perspectives: An In-Depth Look at the Spectacle of Deviant Bodies" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2520. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2520
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.