1d. Social Issues and Implications
Very often when discussing the body, it is in reality a discussion on the symbolic systems- the structures and effects of class, race, or gender, practices of sport, or organizational principles of sociality (Latimer, 2009). According to (Latimer, 2009) bodies fit in with cultural and economic mores” as “body practices are socially constructed along the fault lines of gender, class, age and ethnicity. This is likely because one's appearance often is a reflection of their habits and mindset, and thus their social class culture and race. Through one's’ physical appearance, skin colour, hair color and build are all signs of their race and culture. The behaviours and dressing on the other hand would identify one's’ …show more content…
Distributed leadership is the idea that leadership development requires a focus on structure and systems as well as people and social relations. This is a shift of leadership being viewed as a whole system, instead of just an individual leader. This would mean leadership development being focused on structure and systems, as well as people and social relations (Hartley and Hinksman, 2003 in Bush 2008). This aligns with Tusting and Barton (2006 in Bush, 2008) argument that there is a movement away from the individual towards the emergent and collective as well as providing greater recognition of the significance of the context for leadership learning. This is related to interactive learning-networking and community learning, which has surfaced in recent years. This shows that good leadership is not solely based on the individual leader, but on followers, structure and system as a whole, reducing the importance of leadership being embodied. This section shows the different situations where the physical body does not play, or plays a small role in being a successful …show more content…
This means that a leader with physical flaws can still be a good leader if he or she possesses charisma. This concept makes it possible for people to overcome any stereotypes linked to their physical appearances and be an effective leader. An example of this is the case of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, and first black President of the United States of America. Brown (2011 in Takala et al., 2013) claims his election as president marked a historical and cultural change, “reducing white male dominance amongst great-man leaders” (pg 149). He has an image of a charismatic leader who was able to reduce racism in leadership (Brown 2011 in Takala et al., 2013). Another example would be the Mary Robinson, 7th and first female President of Ireland, shocking her competitors. Very often women are seen to have a lower probability of winning compared to men when running for political positions as both their own party and opposing party often fail to recognise their candidacy (Adler 1996). These examples show that it is possible for people with non-normative bodies to overcome physical stereotypes that disadvantage them and become influential leaders with charisma as appearance is not the sole factor, though it may be more