in some cultures--including some contemporary European village cultures--"the body as such is never actually present: it always lies 'between' things and manifests itself in actions. It is perceived as an aura; it is present like a smell or a sound, not an object with clearly outlined contours. It is as inseparable from gestures and facial expressions as it is from the visible and invisible substances that flow from it" (47)
see Yvonne Verdier's 1979 research on Minot, a village in Burgundy, where women "were convinced that their menstrual blood interrupted the fermentation of wine, dissolved uncooked sauces, and spoiled honey" (34)
"This is why a demarcation between the inner and the outer is not possible, nor is a measuring of the body. Depending on where in the village or the house and in whose company the body appears, it seems to take on different dimensions. Men and women shrink and expand again, depending on whether a girl is learning embroidery, herding sheep, or disappearing into the kitchen" (47)
see separate note on the "body aura"