Embodied

The ideas proposed in the essay "The Rhetoric of Origins and the Other: Reading the Ancient Figure of Enheduanna" by Roberta Binkley were fascinating. The idea of embodiment in Binkley's text relates to "The Circulation of Discourse through the Body" by Jay Dolmage that was part of the third Octolog. Both articles discussed the importance of the body; Binkley's article contrasts the difference between the traditional Athenian rhetoric where Dolmage wishes to bring the body back into our rhetoric. These articles reveal the circle our ideals are turning. We are beginning, although slowly, to remember the rhetoric of the past.
We are obsessed with our bodies in almost all our forms of discourse. How we present ourselves matter almost if not more importantly than what we say. Binkley points out that in Enheduanna's time and in her own work, she and her people believed that the mind and body were connected, not separated as we attempt to show nowadays. Even so, our body heavily influences our audience. A slob will not win the audience's respect. Beauty in a women is used as a praise and manipulation for body standard even as it is used to disqualify women from having serious opinions. How people look and use their bodies persuades and influences people; how they look gives us a stereotype and reaction just from a glance. Our bodies cannot be separated from how we are received, no matter how much we say otherwise.
I think focusing on this idea, recognizing how looks affect how we react can help us see past looks to the message and be critical of the meaning of how people look and present themselves. If we can be aware of how our bodies affect our discourse, we will be able to more affectively present ourselves in a way that best persuades our audience.