Pampering, well-being and women's bodies in the therapeutic spaces of the spa

Abstract

This paper develops and extends recent work in geography on therapeutic landscapes and the body in an examination of pampering practices in the contemporary spa. Drawing on feminist research on health, gender identity and the body, the paper explores the importance of escape, relaxation and other strategies to combat stress on the well-being practices and routines of women. Using original data collected from interviews in two spas in the SW of England, the paper argues that a visit to the spa is increasingly being seen as an important part of women's wider health and bodily maintenance providing a space for relaxation and withdrawal from responsibilities of the home and workplace. The pampering treatments reinforce the therapeutic benefits of the spa creating a sense of luxury and a focus on the self. The paper locates these arguments within the twin theoretical concerns of the 'care of the self' and disciplining the body, suggesting that any attempts to understand the practices and therapies for maintaining bodily well-being must incorporate a recognition of their simultaneous role in regulating the size and shape of women's bodies.

Blue space geographies: Enabling health in place

“…By providing evidence of their curative efficacy, such green/ blue space elements became influential in the design of formal and informal care settings such as hospitals, clinics and retreats as well as in wider urban design (Kaplan, 1995;Gesler et al, 2004;Conradson, 2005aConradson, , 2005bCurtis et al, 2007). Different forms of water -still, flowing, raging, spiritually charged -were additional built components, particularly in retreat, CAM and contemporary spa settings (Conradson, 2007;Hoyez, 2007;Lea, 2008;Foley, 2010;Little, 2013). Hoyez's study of 'yogic landscapes' showed how therapeutic landscapes were reproduced and globalised; within which sacred water and wider 'blue settings' of water and sky were considered essential components in the (re)production of wellbeing.…”

“…In addition, more spiritual encounters in/by water (as transcendental-affective moments) may emerge from a range of natural or built environments (Foley, 2011;Madrell, 2011;Pitt, 2014;Lea et al, 2015). Given that many different groups globally use water in different ways, there is scope for deeper comparative cultural geographies of water associated with spirituality, healing and wellbeing (Smith and Puczkó, 2009;Little, 2013).The potential of blue space to engender and capture a healing intent from a range of social, cultural and embodied perspectives should be more fully articulated.…”

Editorial: Spaces of Renewal

“…Thus restorative qualitiesofparticular places reflect 'the globalplace experience' (Scopelliti and Giuliani 2004, 423) of individuals. This includesvisiting favourite places which can act as an environmental strategy for the re-balancing of self (Korpela and Hartig 1996); but attention to 'global placeexperience' alsocalls for sensitivity to complex negotiations of diverse and sometimes competing notions of renewal, as shown in the case of women on spa visits where therapeutica nd indulgent spaces and practices intersect with those of bodily discipline (Little 2012). Within geography and related disciplines, work on Therapeutic Landscapes initially focused on places associated with healing (Gesler 2003), buth as recently been extended to incorporate broader agendasa nd experiences of health and wellbeing (Gesler 2005;Williams 2007) and awider range of spaces, prompting the coining of the term 'therapeutic environments' (Conradson 2007) and afocus on 'restoration' (Milligan 2007) and 'Whole-ing' (Winkelman and Dubisch2 005), or renewal (as here).…”

Shaping the female student: an analysis of Swedish beauty school recruitment texts

“…The quote is an example of how prospective students are addressed with the assumption that they are capricious consumers driven by their emotions and dreams. It also constructs pampering activities, related to desire and vanity, as creating a sense of luxury and a focus on the self (Little, 2013;Black, 2004). This construction has become viewed as an important component of the bodily maintenance and health of women in particular (Little, 2013).…”

“…It also constructs pampering activities, related to desire and vanity, as creating a sense of luxury and a focus on the self (Little, 2013;Black, 2004). This construction has become viewed as an important component of the bodily maintenance and health of women in particular (Little, 2013). This example demonstrates how bodily activities are constructed in the text -bodily activities that prospective students are expected to engage in and desire.…”