Physical Cultures of Stigmatisation: Health Policy & Social Class

Abstract

In recent years, the increasing regulation of people's health and bodies has been exacerbated by a contemporary ‘obesity discourse’ centred on eating less, exercising more and losing weight. This paper contributes to the growing body of work critically examining this discourse and highlights the way physical activity and health policy directed at ‘tackling’ the obesity ‘crisis’ in the UK articulates numerous powerful discourses that operate to legitimise and privilege certain ways of knowing and usher forth certain desirable forms of embodiment. This has given greater impetus to further define the role of physical activity, sport and physical education as instruments for addressing public health agendas. It is argued that these policies have particular implications for social class through their constitution of (un)healthy and (in)active ‘working class’ bodies. One of the most powerful forms of stigmatisation and discrimination circulating within contemporary health emerges when the social and cultural tensions of social class intersect with obesity discourse and its accompanying imperatives related to physical activity and diet. This raises some important questions about the future of sport and physical activity as it is shaped by the politics of broader health agendas and our position within this terrain as ‘critics’. Consequently, the latter part of the paper offers reflections on the nature and utility of our (and others’) social science critique in the politics of obesity and articulates the need for crossing disciplinary and sectoral borders.

Military‐style fitness boot camps: contested resources in accounting for fatness

“…The weight loss industry, fashion industry, government policy and the medicalisation of obesity (Cogan and Ernsberger , Rich et al . ) are all argued to contribute to the structural stigmatisation of obese people. Finally, is the process by which the stigmatised themselves act in ways to reinforce rather than challenge stigma directed at them, by internalising the negative attitudes of others and believing that they deserve to be stigmatised.…”

Introducing the idea of ‘assumed shared food narratives’ in the context of social networks: reflections from a qualitative study conducted in Nottingham, England

“…Many of their propositions – such as the notion that obesity may no longer be a highly stigmatised condition – have been questioned (Brown , Rich et al . ) and there are competing explanations for the social patterning of overweight and obesity. These include, for example, the role of classed social practices, the over‐supply of fast food outlets in areas of material disadvantage or the operation of latent classed attitudes (Bissell et al .…”

“…This work has been the focus of considerable critical attention in relation to the argument that 'obesity may spread in social networks in a quantifiable and discernible pattern that depends on the nature of social ties' (Christakis and Fowler 2007: 377). Many of their propositionssuch as the notion that obesity may no longer be a highly stigmatised conditionhave been questioned (Brown 2013, Rich et al 2015 and there are competing explanations for the social patterning of overweight and obesity. These include, for example, the role of classed social practices, the over-supply of fast food outlets in areas of material disadvantage or the operation of latent classed attitudes (Bissell et al 2016, Foresight Programme 2007, McLaren 2007, Pampel 2012.…”

The discordant pleasures of everyday eating: Reflections on the social gradient in obesity under neo-liberalism

“…There have also been numerous critiques of obesity from sociologists and feminists adopting very different perspectives (Murray, 2008;Throsby 2007;Monaghan, 2008;Monaghan, 2014;Rich et al, 2015). For example, contemporary Western discourses around femininity and beauty have been seen as privileging small and slender bodies.…”

“…Furthermore, the obese body is usually "classed", with poor and working class bodies embodying much that is problematic. Rich et al (2015) argue: "One of the most powerful forms of stigmatisation and discrimination circulating within contemporary health emerges when the social and cultural tensions of social class intersect with obesity discourse" (2015: 1). This stigmatisation is brought sharply into focus in the context of contemporary health policy in England, where personal responsibility represents the doxic narrative for addressing obesity (and other 'wicked problems'), despite increasing evidence of the shortcomings of individualistic models of 'behaviour' change to address health inequalities (Baum and Fisher, 2014 The attractions of this socially undifferentiated message are obvious to policy makers, who may not want to consider the troubling issue that the unequal distribution of resourcesmaterial and agential may be implicated in obesity and other health conditions (Ulijaszek, 2014;Warin et al, 2015).…”