Not ‘Taking the Easy Way Out’: Reframing Bariatric Surgery from Low-effort Weight Loss to Hard Work

Abstract

Cultural notions equating greater morality and virtue with hard work and productive output are deeply embedded in American value systems. This is exemplified in how people understand and execute personal body projects, including efforts to become slim. Bariatric surgery is commonly viewed as a 'low-effort' means of losing weight, and individuals who opt for this surgery are often perceived to be 'cheating.' This extended ethnographic study within one bariatric program in the Southwestern United States shows how patients conscientiously perform this productivity. By prioritizing discourses that focus on their own hard work and the inherent value and necessity of their surgery, patients and practitioners alike contest the dominant public views of surgically-induced weight loss.

Elective surgery to save my life: rethinking the “choice” in bariatric surgery

“…Significantly, although insurance and medical systems worldwide vary markedly from the US model, the perception that the surgery is 'low-effort,' not necessary and of less value, is widespread (e.g. Groven 2014, Trainer et al 2016a.…”

Adolescent bariatric surgery: a qualitative exploratory study of US patient perspectives

“…By contrast, the qualitative literature with adults is well‐established. Topics include the gendering of bariatric surgery , attitudes towards surgery , information needs and social support , decision‐making , impacts of surgery on daily life , post‐operative challenges and body image .…”

Sick but healthy: bariatric patients and the social construction of illness and disability

“…Consistent with previous literature (Drew , Hansen and Dye , Trainer et al . ), patients utilise health discourses to combat the stigmatising attitudes of friends and family.…”