Materializing the body: a feminist perspective

This chapter sets out to materialize the body with the help of feminist literature. While much of the research of the body in marketing and consumer research has focused on analyzing discursive or social aspects of the body, this chapter joins a recent stream of research that highlights the materiality of the body. In particular, drawing from feminist new materialist literature and theories of affect, it offers conceptualizations of the body that enable to grasp the way materiality entangles with social and discursive constructions, and to highlight the role of pre-linguistic, visceral, and biological dimensions of embodiment. The authors employ two case studies to illustrate the way feminist theoretical perspectives open up the materiality and the body: Sleeping bodies and Bodies caring for wood waste. With the cases, this chapter discusses the potential of material notions such as entanglement and more-than-human care. The authors discuss implications of feminist new material approach to marketing and consumer research, and outline ideas for future research.