We all have a body, but how does it impact upon our day-to-day life? How we experience our bodies is at once both intensely personal and extremely public. This book sets out to explore how ordinary women, men and children talk about their bodies and how they experience them in a variety of situations. The material is approached through four main themes: physical and emotional bodies; illness and disability; gender; and ageing. This is a collection of empirical research on the subject and a complement to theoretical and philosophical developments in this field. The book should be of particular interest to students of sociology, health studies and cultural studies.