BODILY issue- Sport and Obesity Flashcards
What were the three main concepts of this lecture?
Understand some of the social determinants of obesity
Appreciate obesity shame and stigma as sociological phenomena
Recognise technologies of surveillance with regards to obesity in
children and adults
Briefly outline the issue of OBESITY?
Consistently framed as one of the most pressing issues in society
The concept of the ‘obesity time bomb’
A great public interest into obesity.
How does obesity relate to the public?
Huge public resources have been spent on public health campaigns and funded research to reduce rates of obesity, but little progress has been made.
The general public are very aware of obesity and there are often public debates about the best way to approach the issue. Similarly, there is also much disagreement among academics.
Is it as simple as health campaigns and providing money?
Oli Williams (2017)
“Obese does not necessarily mean unhealthy”
M Gard (2010)
“Truth, Belief and the cultural politics of Obesity”
- What does it mean to say ‘The Social Determinants of Obesity’ ?
Is it a PERSONAL or SOCIAL issue?
Largely individualised and seen as a PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
BUT
This isn’t always the case, we need general changes at a STRUCTURAL/ SOCIETAL level too
Despite many well-known factors/ examples, many people (including policymakers) tend to try and solve obesity at the individual level.
Explain an example of social determinants of obesity?
Public Health England: Obesity prevalence by Deprivation Decile, child measurement programme (2018/2019)
Most deprived schools= highest % of obesity prevalence.
Trends in obesity changed at a population level in the late 20th century; schools with higher levels of deprivation have higher levels of childhood obesity; countries with greater inequalities have higher levels of obesity; the behavioural causes of obesity (diet and exercise) are impacted by varied barriers and opportunities.
What has been a campaign against obesity, and was it effective?
Change4Life image “Hands Up”
BUT
How can people put their hands up and live longer if they are held down by poverty- a public issue rather than a personal trouble?
- What does it mean to say ‘Obesity Shame and Stigma as Sociological Phenomena”?
People who are obese experience a lot of shame. Shame is almost always a social emotion because it involves a relation with other people. Culture usually defines what we ought to feel shame about.
Shame (the personal emotion) is brought about by stigma (a social phenomenon).
Society shapes what is stigmatised and what is celebrated – smoking is a good example over the 20th century. Rapid changes in stigma are often the result of deliberate choices made through policymakers and social marketers.
Today, there are many examples of weight stigma in the media and in policy documents.
Describe the difference between shame and stigma?
SHAME= a personal emotion
STIGMA= a social phenomenon
Shame is brought about by stigma
The media controls what is stigmatised.
What does the “weaponisation” of stigma mean?
The ‘weaponisation of stigma’ refers to the process of using stigma as a means of trying to win a political/cultural battle.
Left wing commentators would argue that this is what is happening when we blame individuals for their obesity – it means that there is less attention on the structural causes which would be expensive to fix.
- What does it mean to say that Technologies of Surveillance are used in relation to obesity?
Foucault’s Panopticon- an efficient way that behaviours are watched and observed.
Social theory can help us understand what is going on here. Concepts like surveillance, governmentality and technologies of the self have been put to good use in the obesity literature. These concepts come from the French theorist Michel Foucault.
Explain Foucault’s Panopticon?
A metaphor for the government surveying us, we are constantly being watched, measured, tracked and monitored.
Height and Weight measured- BMI= mass surveillance.
What’s a large criticism of surveillance, governmentality and technologies of the self?
This type of measurement has been strongly linked to eating disorders, with body centred talk impacting the health and identities of young people.
Explain clearly what ‘Technologies of Surveillance’ are?
Essentially, this set of concepts tries to describe modern ways of controlling the behaviours of a population that are more subtle and more efficient that using force.
One way of governing people would be to make a rule, use surveillance to catch people breaking the rules (e.g. law enforcers walking around), and then use force to apprehend and punish the transgressors.
Another way would be to get citizens to observe and police each other, which is more efficient and seems more democratic. And yet another way would be for people to internalise rules so that they police themselves, which is even more efficient.
Apply Technologies of Surveillance to Obesity?
Some scholars have used these concepts to say that this is what is going on with obesity.
The harms of obesity are learnt about in school, media and through policy. Obesity is presented as a something that can be prevented with individual will power and this message is reinforced with surveillance at the level of the state, the culture and the individual.
Give a short conclusion of the lecture/ for an exam answer?
Obesity is a problem that is highly relevant to physical education, the health and fitness industry, leisure management and sport.
These domains are usually presented as part of the solution to the crisis/epidemic, with individuals told to engage in more physical activity.
A sociological analysis shows us there are social determinants of obesity, that weight stigma is prevalent in our culture, and that numerous methods of surveillance are used to influence population behaviour.
