What are docile bodies? And how are the created? According to Foucault, docile bodies are created in us through disciplinary power and can be exercise internally and externally (Foucault). Foucault also argued that docile bodies are subjected and practiced bodies produced by discipline that can be used, transformed, and improved over time. He also discussed how bodies in general are seen as objects are a target of power and can be molded into someone or something accepted or reinforced by society (Foucault, 136). There are three disciplinary techniques in which docile bodies are created, 1. Scale of control, 2. Object of control, and 3. Modality. Scale of control means that in order to control a whole population, one need to start controlling individuals are parts first. Object of control refers to the practice and repetition to improve movement. Like mentioned previously, Foucault discussed that bodies are improved, which is explained in the second technique of object of control and how through repetition one can improve movement. Modality refers to the molding of body through supervision. The supervision involved in modality assures that behavior will continue once supervision is no longer needed because the body will be molded to practice that behavior unconsciously.
In his explanation of disciplinary power and docile body, Foucault gave the example of soldiers in the military and how they are individuals who are trained, molded, shaped, and transformed into the soldier they become through disciplinary power. His example reminded me of one of my favorite childhood movies, Cadet Kelly. Kelly was a young teen who grew up pretty much doing whatever she wanted and not following any rules or regulations. After her mother got remarried they had to move to the suburbs and she had to attend a military school. In the beginning it was hard for her to adapt to her new environment because of the rules she had to follow, which she was not used to. The first video that I have attached shows how Kelly saw herself as an individual not part of something that should be controlled. It also shows how the other cadets were already trained and improved through the power that their captain reinforced towards them; they were already trained to come together as a whole not as one. Her behavior was not accepted by the school because there were norms that had to be followed in that environment, which Kelly clearly broke. The second video that I have attached shows how Kelly was pretty much molded and trained to become a better cadet to fit in with the others.
To go along with what Foucault discussed in his reading on disciplinary power and docile bodies, Kelly was first treated as an individual part rather than included in the whole group. After it was obvious that she was not able to keep up with the rules being enforced in the school, she was put aside from everyone else and trained by another captain through one-on-one training. This goes along with the first and second technique, which are scale of control and modality. She was supervised by an upper classmate to improve her skills as a cadet until she was able to do it on her own and keep up with everyone else. But, of course Kelly did not improve herself from one day to the other; she improved her skills through practice and repetition, hence, object of control. Kelly created her docile body through the disciplinary power that was brought upon her by the school, through rules and regulations. She improved her docile body through practice and training, which shaped and transformed her into a better classmate and what was acceptable in her new military school. I found this movie a great example of Foucault’s theory on disciplinary power and docile bodies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnf1MWDDik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY8yoIpUPsw
In his explanation of disciplinary power and docile body, Foucault gave the example of soldiers in the military and how they are individuals who are trained, molded, shaped, and transformed into the soldier they become through disciplinary power. His example reminded me of one of my favorite childhood movies, Cadet Kelly. Kelly was a young teen who grew up pretty much doing whatever she wanted and not following any rules or regulations. After her mother got remarried they had to move to the suburbs and she had to attend a military school. In the beginning it was hard for her to adapt to her new environment because of the rules she had to follow, which she was not used to. The first video that I have attached shows how Kelly saw herself as an individual not part of something that should be controlled. It also shows how the other cadets were already trained and improved through the power that their captain reinforced towards them; they were already trained to come together as a whole not as one. Her behavior was not accepted by the school because there were norms that had to be followed in that environment, which Kelly clearly broke. The second video that I have attached shows how Kelly was pretty much molded and trained to become a better cadet to fit in with the others.
To go along with what Foucault discussed in his reading on disciplinary power and docile bodies, Kelly was first treated as an individual part rather than included in the whole group. After it was obvious that she was not able to keep up with the rules being enforced in the school, she was put aside from everyone else and trained by another captain through one-on-one training. This goes along with the first and second technique, which are scale of control and modality. She was supervised by an upper classmate to improve her skills as a cadet until she was able to do it on her own and keep up with everyone else. But, of course Kelly did not improve herself from one day to the other; she improved her skills through practice and repetition, hence, object of control. Kelly created her docile body through the disciplinary power that was brought upon her by the school, through rules and regulations. She improved her docile body through practice and training, which shaped and transformed her into a better classmate and what was acceptable in her new military school. I found this movie a great example of Foucault’s theory on disciplinary power and docile bodies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnnf1MWDDik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY8yoIpUPsw