Health Nazis and the Cult of the Perfect Body: Some Polemical Observations

Edgley, Charles; Brissett, Dennis

doi:10.1525/si.1990.13.2.257

Cited by 45 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Again, the reader is reminded that managing her weight is her responsibility. In that pursuing health has become a moral obligation (Edgley and Brissett 1990), this responsibility carries moral connotations.…”

Section: Obesity: No-one To Blame But Yourself (And Your Parents)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Morality and Health: News Media Constructions of Overweight and Eating Disorders

Saguy¹,

Gruys²

2010

Social Problems

151

103

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In 2005, in the wealthy suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, Emily and Mark Krudys' ten-yearold daughter, Katherine, was diagnosed with anorexia, and her parents were desperate for a cure. "Emily and Mark tried everything. They were firm. Then they begged their daughter to eat. Then they bribed her. We'll buy you a pony, they told her. But nothing worked" (Tyre 2005). Finally, Katherine was admitted for inpatient treatment at a children's hospital in another town. During the two months of her daughter's treatment, Emily stayed nearby so that she could attend family-therapy sessions. After Katherine was released, Emily homeschooled her while Katherine regained strength. Considered a success story, Newsweek reported that Katherine entered sixth grade in fall of 2005: "She's got the pony, and she's become an avid Only a short drive away, in Washington, DC, Leslie Abbott, a black single mother, was dealing with a very different food battle. She had lost custody of her son Terrell after months of fighting neglect charges related to his body weight. Known to his friends as "Heavy-T," Terrell had recently been released from an inpatient weight-loss program, but-once at homehad gained weight. Leslie explained to a reporter why it was unfair for public authorities to blame her for Terrell's backslide: "This boy is 15, going to be 16 years old. I can't watch him 24 hours a day. They want me to hold his hand, take him to the Y, make him eat salad" (Eaton 2007). Leslie said she would have had to quit her minimum-wage job in order to follow the health regimen suggested by Terrell's doctors. But, as noted by the journalist, "How could she afford that? To her thinking, the healthy food Terrell needed meant she needed more money, not less" (Eaton 2007).These two news articles discuss topics-anorexia and obesity-in which body size (too thin or too heavy) and eating (too little or too much) are treated as medical risks and/or diseases. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) defines anorexia as the refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally "normal weight" for age and height, fear of gaining weight or becoming "fat," and denial of the gravity of one's low body weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines "obesity" among adults as having a body mass index (BMI) (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) equal to or greater than 30, and "overweight" as having a BMI equal or greater than 25 but less than 30.1 Different measures are used for children and teenagers under 18-years old, which adjust for age.While anorexia and overweight/obesity are both medical categories related to body weight and eating, they have strikingly different social and moral connotations. In the contemporary United States, being heavy is seen as the embodiment of gluttony, sloth, and/or stupidity (Crandall and Eshleman 2003;Latner and Stunkard 2003), while slenderness is taken as the embodiment of virtue (Bordo 1993). A deep-seated cultural belief in self-reliance makes body size-like wealth-especially likely ...

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Section: Obesity: No-one To Blame But Yourself (And Your Parents)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Morality and Health: News Media Constructions of Overweight and Eating Disorders

Saguy¹,

Gruys²

2010

Social Problems

151

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Advertisements chide consumers that with the "right" lifestyle, they can defy the aging process and restore their youthful good looks. Implicit within this ideology of self-preservation and body control is the notion that the body is a malleable or changeable entity in the "process of becoming; a project which should be worked at and accomplished" (Apter, 1995;Bordo, 1993;Brumberg, 1997;Edgley & Brissett, 1990;Shilling, 1993, p. 5;Thompson & Hirschman, 1995;Turner, 1991Turner, , 1996.…”

Section: The Body In Sociocultural Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Reflections on the Body and Related Sociocultural Discourses at the Midlife Transition: An Interpretive Study of Women's Experiences

Ogle

Damhorst

2005

J Adult Dev

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The present study explored how European American women in midlife transition think about their changing bodies and related sociocultural discourses. The work was informed by theory that illuminates a process in which middle-aged individuals critically evaluate the meaning structures used to make sense of the world and self and transform these schemes for personal relevance. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 women transitioning into their middle-aged years. Data were analyzed using constant comparison processes. Analyses revealed two major ideological adjustments in participants' thinking, including (a) the shift from an emphasis upon external to internal aspects of the self and (b) the questioning of dominant social discourses about the female body. Although these ideological shifts seemingly contributed to participants' acceptance of their bodies at midlife, participants also expressed ambivalence about their appearances and related social discourses.

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“…Moderation has little place here. Instead, the "cult of the perfect body" (Edgley & Brissett, 1990) shifts the emphasis away from health concerns and the acceptance of human imperfection (indeed, human averageness) towards bodily extremes, many versions of which inevitably jeopardize wellness.…”

Section: The Fit Body In Gender Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is possible, for example, to be heavy and healthy (Ritenbaugh, 1982) and to be healthy without rigorous exercise (Nichter & Nichter, 1991 ). Further complicating the "body-image-equals-health" stereotype is the fact that intense exercise clearly has its own associated and often overlooked disadvantages including high injury rates and body image disorders (Edgley & Brissett, 1990;Young, White, & McTeer, 1994). 17 4 Philip WHITE.…”

Section: Health and Fitness Reconsideredmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper we identify the contradictions that lie within popular wisdom about the generally unquestioned morality of exercise : that people should exercise ; that people should control their weight (Edgley & Brissett, 1990). Arguments about the "slackers" and the slothful failing society by burdening the health care system with largely preventable illnesses are challenged by pointing to how access to knowledge and resources for becoming and staying fit are unevenly distributed throughout society.…”

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