The Politics of In/Visibility ― Being There

Visibility and being seen to be there matters in contemporary society. This book explores the politics of looking and being seen, and suggests new ways of understanding the gaze as relational and embodied. It uses a variety of examples; from sport, with its distinction between the authenticity of the real fan who is there in the flesh and the spectator who watches online or on television; from film and theatre; and from the sexualized images of popular culture. In doing so, it explores the relationship between enfleshed selves, cultural forms and the inner world of feelings, which can sometimes take you out of time and into 'the zone'. Is being present in the flesh more important, and more real, than looking at a distance? What is the relationship between the actual and the virtual? The book grapples with these questions, concluding that, just as women are very visible but lack the power to influence how they are seen, you can be there but still be invisible.

Kath Woodward is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Open University, United Kingdom. She works on critical feminist theories, especially in the field of sport. She recently curated the Olympic Museum exhibition Chasing Time (2014-5), which was based on her 2012 book Sporting Times (Palgrave Macmillan). Other notable publications include Globalizing Boxing (2014), Sex Power and the Games (2012, Palgrave Macmillan), and Why Feminism Matters (2009, Palgrave Macmillan, with Sophie Woodward).