Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1995 Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed: A Performance-Centered Inquiry of Eating and Body Image. Leigh Anne Howard Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Howard, Leigh Anne, "Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed: A Performance-Centered Inquiry of Eating and Body Image." (1995). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6068. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6068 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800.521-0600 BOAL AND THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED: A PERFORMANCE-CENTERED INQUIRY OF EATING AND BODY IMAGE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech Communication by Leigh Anne Howard B.A., Centre College of Kentucky, 1986 M.A., Western Kentucky University, 1991 December 1995 ONI Numbnn 9613420 UMI Microform 9613420 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeefa Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Endeavors that are the magnitude of this project are not conducted in isolation. Many people have influenced and encouraged me as I interviewed people, organized the public performances, documented the process with this manuscript, and completed my graduate studies. 1 am delighted to have the opportunity to thank them for their encouragement and help. First, I thank my family for their unflagging support, love, and devotion. My parents, Geri and Mendel Howard, have encouraged me throughout my lifetime to take risks and to take a stance. My parents, as well as my brother, Todd, and my sister, Laura, have also taught me the importance of applying my studies to the "real" world. Their questions and comments have pointed out the necessity of conducting studies that could have impact upon the way people live. My grandfather, James Stanley Howard, has also provided a lifetime of support. My debt to each of them must be implied rather than expressed. Members of my dissertation committee have provided insight, encouragement, resources, and patience. I owe this project to Michael Bowman, who inspired my thinking about body-centered performance, who allowed me to scream in his classroom, and who prodded me in (un)subtle ways. His belief in this project and in my abilities sustained my motivation to persist during the most trying ii times. Mary Frances HopKins was tremendously helpful in the final stages of the writing process. I also thank Paula Geiselman, Emily Toth, and Kenneth Zagacld for serving on my committee and maintaining a keen interest in my research. Other faculty and staff members at Louisiana State University have also been supportive. Ruth Laurion Bowman has particularly influenced this project and my ideas about performance and pedagogy. Although Patricia Pace now teaches at Georgia Southern University, she influenced me greatly during her year at LSU; she continues to guide me toward essential works about gender and performance theory. Andrew King, Ginger Conrad, and Lisa Landry have also provided assistance throughout my years at LSU. I also acknowledge numerous friends and colleagues for listening, offering suggestions, and providing assistance as I completed my studies and this manuscript: Stuart Ainsworth, Heidi Brough, Sharon Croft, Michael Dreher, Dan Heaton, Judith Hoover, David Lambkin, Jim Patterson, Lydia Reid, Lynn Ritter, and Marie Smith. Finally, my thanks to the women and men who shared their lives and experiences during the interviews, and the six women who saw the project through completion. For their honesty and courage, their insights and encouragement, I shall always be indebted. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................ii ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................1 2 TAKING THE FIRST STEPS: INTERVIEWS, ACTIONS, AND EXPERIENCES.....................37 3 THE REHEARSAL PROCESS: PERSONAL AWARENESS TO SOCIAL DISCUSSION 85 4 MEETING THE PUBLIC: SOCIAL CONNECTIONS, CULTURAL CRITIQUE.............. 148 5 CONCLUSION................................................................................. 180 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................... 212 APPENDICES A BODY IMAGE SURVEY................................................................222 B EXPERIMENT CONSENT FORM................................................223 C FOCUS GROUP FORMAT AND TOPICS................................. 224 D DESCRIPTION OF PERFORMERS.............................................226 E SCRIPT FOR BEAUTY AND THE FEAST.............................. 229 VITA................................................................................................................245 ABSTRACT Building upon the scholarly tradition that performance is a valuable pedagogical tool, I documented how six performers developed personal awareness, critical consciousness, and the ability to take action as a result of participating in a performance process. I designed a three-stage performance process. During the first phase of the process, focus group discussions, participants exhibited little awareness of their specific eating habits or the cultural constructed ness of those habits. As they completed the first phase, they became more aware of their behaviors, and they began to identify food's social function. At the second stage, rehearsal sessions, six performers began to enact their understanding of eating and body image. By watching videotapes of the focus group discussions, performers established distance between their behaviors and the behaviors of others in order to critique and contest their observations. They enacted those ideas by following activities that Augusto Boal outlined in his theories of "Theatre of the Oppressed." At this point performers recognized how their own behaviors were inextricably interwoven with social norms and standards, and they prepared to act upon their understandings. During the third phase, public performance, performers tested their ideas in a public forum. Not only had performers developed critical consciousness, but they became agents who could take critical action. I also documented the types of knowledge performers obtained. In addition to developing personal awareness, all performers changed their eating habits or how they regarded the habits of others. Some began a more critical examination of how cultural norms influenced individual behaviors. Others increased their levels of self disclosure, or they developed appreciation for the performance process or group interaction. Chapters two through four include a summary of the process and of the types of information performers acquired during each phase. In the final chapter, I summarize the performance process, evaluate performance as a type of critical pedagogy, and suggest areas for further research. Appendices include a body image survey, experiment consent form, a list of topics used for the focus group discussions, a description of the performers, and the script for the public performance. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In the past twenty years, performance scholars have advocated a theoretical shift in what they considered texts and in what they considered performance’s function (e.g., Fine and Speer; Pelias and VanOosting),