‘Fat Ethics’ – The Obesity Discourse and Body Politics

“People don't care as much about their health as they do about their looks”: Personal trainers as intermediaries between aesthetic and health-based discourses of exercise participation and weight management

“…In addition to health promotion campaigns prepared by public health agencies, popular magazines, newspapers, television programs and websites present vast volumes of information about diet and exercise that is designed to provide people with knowledge about how to manage their eating and activity. In general, weight loss is constructed in these forums as a straightforward matter of creating an energy imbalance: "calories in versus calories out" (Rich & Evans, 2005). However, the widespread use of weight loss programs and personal trainers reflects the reality that this apparently simple formulation is a source of struggle for many, and that forms of external support and supervision are seen as helpful aids in the quest for weight loss.…”

“…Brownell, 2010;Cooper et al, 2010;Mann, Tomiyama, Westling, Lew, Samuels, & Chatman, 2007;Rich & Evans, 2005). The Health At Every Size (HAES) movement has developed in response to longstanding concerns about the viability and ethics 6 of promoting weight loss as a means of improving health (Robison, 2005).…”

“…Putting together the discourses of health and attractiveness creates a cultural context in which a lean body is a powerful signifier of success (Bordo, 1993;Rich & Evans, 2005) while the fat body is subject to wide ranging social stigmatisation (Puhl & Heuer, 2009). The widespread belief that body weight is a result of eating and exercise habits, and that these are themselves a product of knowledge, motivation and self-discipline produces a situation in which it is taken for granted that these personal qualities can be "read off" the body in straightforward ways.…”

“…There was a seamless equation of physical changes with psychological improvements; no trainer raised any concerns in relation to clients' desire to increase self-esteem and confidence through weight loss. The trainers thus appear to uncritically take on board the assumptions of the wider culture concerning the relationship between body weight, identity, success and emotional satisfaction in life (Bordo, 1993;Rich & Evans, 2005), and saw increased physical attractiveness as an unproblematic path to increased self-confidence for their clients (Thompson & Donaghue, 2014).…”

Munkkiperinteestä pizzaelämykseen – terveys ja ruoka Sotilaskoti-lehdessä 1967–2007

“…Crawford 2000;Lawrence 2004;Rich & Evans 2005). Tämä tulos heijastelee Sotilaskotijärjestön arvomaailmaa, joka ei pohjimmiltaan ole individualistinen vaan korostaa yhteisöllisyyttä ja toisten hyväksi tehtävää vapaaehtoistyötä.…”