From the digital body to the posthuman body. Body image in the digital era, in the virtual generation and in the posthuman concept

Abstract

We are aware of the changes that the body image has undergone since the beginning of the digital era, passing through the virtual generation, up to reaching the concept of the posthuman body. The objective is to think about how the evolution in the perception of the body is related to the change of mentality that the new technologies are producing in the individual and in society. From a bibliographic selection and my own experience, it is valued how we perceive our body from the physical, social and cultural aspects, and as well as how it is manipulated in a technological way causing in the individual an egocentric and playful temperament. As a result, by accepting the fiction of our body, we allow our identity to be diluted. Bauman talks about “the liquid society” in which the current individual lives immersed in a process of constant transformation. In conclusion, the development of new technologies will continue shaping the image of our body and the mentality of our future societies, as long as the individual continues feeling attraction for these advances. It seems inevitable that the posthuman concept ends up being radicalized by movements that support the transfer of the biological limits of the body.