Whitman's I Sing the Body Electric

I Sing the Body Electric

As a recovering anorexic, I am all too familiar with my body and how it looks when I am standing, sitting, and lying down. I know the way my stomach curls under my ribs and how the fat on top makes a crease as if to say, “I’ve got your back ribs, no one can touch you.” I know the way my thighs stick to wooden seats when I sit for too long. I know the way my body feels when it is hungry, full, or tired. In these ways, one could say that I am overly sensitive to my body and its ways and cues. However, I feel that it makes the sensations I have in my body more “electric.” In I Sing the Body Electric, Walt Whitman caught my eye with the very first few lines.
The lines did not just speak to me because they were worded well or because they rhymed; they spoke to me because I corrupted my body. I brought my body to the brink of death hoping that my master plan of shrinking into absolute nothingness would indeed conceal all my other hurt and pain. Whitman’s phrasing is not merely that of an excellent poet, his words show a true appreciation for the body while at the same time expressing an immeasurable understanding of the woman’s body, not just the body of a man. “Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies conceal themselves;” Whitman’s use of an interrogative tone here shows that he believes any corruption of the body is to cover up a deeper issue. Eating disorders are about deeper issues, not actually having much to do with food or weight; those things are merely a distraction from the issues buried under disordered behaviors. Other types of corruption during Whitman’s time might have been premarital sex leading to pregnancy, sexual encounters with the same sex, and alcoholism. All of these are ways to have a “voice” without actually speaking. I believe that Whitman recognized using the body as an instrument of communication was a popular technique utilized by many, including himself. Whitman had a long term affair with a man, and to some he thus corrupted his body. As shown by the letters during a presentation in class, he concealed this relationship to anyone who inquired about his sexuality.
The following lines speak just as strongly as the first. In my treatment center we learned that without proper care of the body, all other parts of one’s being cease to exist entirely. Indeed “if the body [is] not the soul, what is the soul?” is a question I asked myself in many forms, many times. The body is the temple in which the soul, chakras, mind, intelligence, emotions, and lifeblood reside. No soul is unattached to the body. I believe that as a writer Whitman connected with his soul on a different level through his words. I have felt this connection myself when writing poetry regarding my eating disorder. Whitman’s ability to write allowed him to see his body as neither male nor female , thus allowing him to see what the body is truly capable of.
The body is simply a vessel that moves, breathes, eats, and sleeps. However, in Whitman’s words, the body is the soul; it is something that can be corrupted or worshiped. “All things please the soul, but [the contact and odor of men and women] please the soul well.” The treatment of a body as neither male nor female is what is good for the soul, according to Whitman. A body is not worthy of treating well because it has the anatomy of a male or the anatomy of a female; if the body is the soul, as Whitman says, then the body is deserving of being treated well, period. The treatment of the body is something that is holistic, not just a matter of treating the body with food or treating the soul with meditation. My recovery is not just about eating the proper amount of fruits, vegetables, starches, proteins, and fats. It is also about doing what is good for my soul, and that is what Whitman means by that line. Any corruption of the body, whether it malnourishment, sexual exploitation, or anything else capable of corrupting the vessel itself, must be cured holistically.
Overall, Whitman makes a claim about the body that is indeed pertinent to the present. The body is “electric” in all that it contains. The body is more than just skin and bone. In the words of Whitman, “O I these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of the soul,/ O I say now these are the soul!” He concludes with his notion that the body is the soul. I believe that I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment; without acknowledging my soul, the recovery of my body would have never been possible to discontinue corrupting my body, thus discontinuing concealing myself. Recognizing my soul as intertwined with the body helped me have the most holistic recovery possible.