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Skin to skin 

Marc Lafrance studies the self, body and society

By Anna Sarkissian

Waxing, tanning, pruning, preening – our society as a whole devotes countless hours to modifying our bodies in an attempt to look good.

“For many, it’s a preoccupation with no terminus,” says Marc Lafrance, assistant professor of sociology who examines body image, men and masculinity, cosmetic surgery, popular culture and more. “I’m struck by how many of us struggle with our bodies. They seem to require work that is never done.”

Lafrance may be a relatively new scholar, but he has already attracted the attention of the editors of Body & Society, considered the top journal in his field.

They were so taken with his theories that they devoted a special section of the September 2009 issue to his work and invited eminent scholars to respond.

“To put it plainly, I was flabbergasted,” Lafrance says. “It was a huge vote of confidence.”

His article “Skin and the Self: Cultural Theory and Anglo-American Psychoanalysis” is centered on the body’s surface and the way it fundamentally forms who we are and how we make sense of those around us. Though skin separates us, it also makes connections possible. It’s our first interface with the world.

Lafrance presents the theories of contemporary psychoanalysts Esther Bick and Thomas Ogden and translates them into the language of social and cultural theory. He aims to show that when clinical and theoretical concepts are brought into dialogue, exciting things can happen.

“We get a whole range of new tools for thinking about bodies and self and skin and so on,” he says.

The theories view skin and touch as being fundamental in the lives of human beings, working against the idea that mind and body are separate. Lafrance calls it a fully embodied approach.

“If we’re going to understand anything about the role the body plays in contemporary culture, then we’ve got to understand how people actually experience it,” Lafrance says.

Born in North Bay, Ont., Lafrance was a student of Geneviève Rail, current principal of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, at the University of Ottawa. He crossed the pond for his master’s and PhD in cultural studies at the University of Oxford, an experience he described as transformative.

It was rigorous and competitive and the supervisors expected nothing but the best. But he also learned the value of modesty and humility.

“We were taught to be firm, powerful, persuasive and yet understated,” he says. His supervisor encouraged him to avoid using jargon, which can obscure arguments and close down avenues for debate between disciplines.

“She said, ‘If you can’t convince me of a point using non-specialized vocabulary then you haven’t understood it yet.’ So I try to write as accessibly as I can.”

Lafrance puts that principle to good use in his columns for AskMen.com, the largest men’s lifestyle site (created in 1999 by three Concordia graduates) that attracts up to 7 million readers monthly.

He is also currently finishing two books: the first about skin, psychoanaylsis and cultural studies, and the second about the television show Nip/Tuck, self-identity and cosmetic surgery dramas. He is the recipient of a three-year SSHRC Standard Research Grant (2007-10) and was recently voted Best Professor by the Sociology and Anthropology Students Union.

Lafrance has little time to celebrate though, and admits to being a “hardcore workaholic.”

This week, he is presenting three papers at an international meeting of the Popular Culture Association in St. Louis, Missouri.

He feels right at home at Concordia. After Oxford, he was looking for an institution that was more forward-thinking and cutting-edge.

“My objects of inquiry are a little off the beaten path. I wanted something different. I have to say that my colleagues really energize me here,” he says. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”