Abstract

This paper explores how the discipline required for good health influences female embodiment. It examines the justification in the United States for a war against obesity and the criticism of that war made by Health at Every Size (HAES) proponents. It finds that a "good-health imperative" operates within both the fight against obesity and the size-acceptance movement. I question how such an imperative curtails the range of possibilities for pleasure. The self-monitoring required in eating and exercising for health demands a constant reading of one's behavior as good/healthy or bad/unhealthy. In addition, attention to health achieved through behavior modification draws focus away from underlying socioeconomic issues. I posit that a feminist position on the war against obesity clearly argues against a focus on weight, but that the larger issue of behavior modification for health remains much more difficult to solve.

Recommended Citation

Welsh, Talia L.. 2011. "Healthism and the Bodies of Women: Pleasure and Discipline in the War against Obesity." Journal of Feminist Scholarship 1 (Fall): 33-48. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jfs/vol1/iss1/13