ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES TO SHAME: Avowal, Management, and Contestation

Blogging for weight loss: personal accountability, writing selves, and the weight‐loss blogosphere

“…At a time when obesity concerns are highly visible in the media and fat people are vilified for their ‘poor choices’ (Rail et al 2010), weight‐loss blogs are an ambiguous space where bloggers attempt to negotiate discourses around fatness. PastaQueen’s blog posts reflect a range of discursive positions, supporting the notion of the fat body as ‘contested terrain’ (Martin 2000: 142). Sometimes PastaQueen positions herself as a fat activist, writing enthusiastically about the fat characters in a favourite TV programme (12 April, 2006), questioning the credibility of a fat‐acceptance blogger for not being fat enough (September, 2005), and being critical of instances where fat people encounter discrimination (10 April, 2005).…”

“…Writing is the predominant content of blogs, but they also include a variety of other texts, photographs, video and audio clips, advertising, hyperlinks, blogrolls, and reader comments. Within weight‐loss blogs, photographs of the author operate as ‘body announcements’ (Martin 2000) that exploit the body to claim identity. ‘Before’ photos, in particular, function as an online visual confession to establish the fat self.…”

“…See, it’s not just me!” ’ (19 August, 2005). PastaQueen knows it is ‘cruel’ or ‘wrong’, but writing these posts functions as a form of shame management (Martin 2000), that mitigates her own negative feelings about her body. These posts were written during a period when PastaQueen was still overweight, but as her body size decreased, her positioning remained quite conflicted:…”

“…There is a sense of relief in PastaQueen’s post related to the absence of the plus‐sized body, but there is pain too for the past self who was (and is) the target of ridicule: ‘the fat girl no longer physically exists … [but] I doubt the emotional residue of being a fat person ever really goes away’ (8 August, 2006). This illustrates the complexities of negotiating discourses of obesity and experiences of shame, particularly when attempting to reconcile a past (fat) body with an emerging (thinner) one (Granberg 2011, Martin 2000). Occasionally, PastaQueen expresses considerable tension around her weight‐loss project: ‘Sometimes I feel weird being a fat person who supports fat rights … yet whose top goal of 2007 is to no longer be fat … If you really accept yourself, why are you trying to make yourself a different person?’ (25 July, 2006).…”

Creating a Godless Community: The Collective Identity Work of Contemporary American Atheists

“…As a leader of NSSD stated in a correspondence with many local groups: “Our mission [is to] unite secular groups across the country in the interest of public service, and to demonstrate our commitment to leading full and ethical lives … to raise the visibility and sense of unity among local groups in the community of reason, to create a national dialogue on the role of nontheists in American Society.” Suggesting competition with the role that religious organizations often play, the creation of NSSD, endorsed by many local atheist groups states further that: “We want our nonreligious community to be able to offer the same fantastic service opportunities that churches and religious groups are known for … we want to show the nation that we too are committed to charitable and ethical lives with or without religion.” Participants were encouraged to submit to the project organizers “specific examples about your god‐free involvement in service to country or community.” The moral underpinnings in these comments suggest that imbuing atheism with positive moral meanings is important not just for the personal moral identities of atheists, but for the development of a collective atheist identity. As one member expressed: “What we need to do is work together, and show people that atheism doesn't mean the death of morality; it actually means a stronger morality.” The emphasis on “we together” challenging the prevailing ideas about religion and morality, and as a group showing people that atheism is compatible with morality, is demonstrative of collective stigma management (Martin ). The organizational identities that define atheist groups parallel the activist organizational framework that Martin wrote about in his analysis of differential organizational approaches to managing social stigma.…”