Obesity is a very central topic in America. Online, on tv, in print, Americans are bombarded with statistics about the obesity epidemic or new diet ads. Thin and fit bodies have a higher social value whereas fat bodies are medicalized and seen as a problem. A lot of things are assumed just based on an individuals body type: from health, to work ethic, to activity level.
In the reading for today, "Your body is your business card: Bodily capital and health authority in the fitness industry", by David Hutson, how bodies are seen and utilized in society as a form of exchange for capital and authority is looked at. We read about how individuals use your body to evaluate your health, morality, will power, knowledge, competence, and make assumptions about you.
A good looking body, fit or thin, is seen as having a higher social value due to increased will power, strength of character, higher morality, and better health. Just by possessing an "attractive" body one may gain symbolic and material rewards, by using your body as capital.
"The concept of "body capital" describes the value attached to peoples appearance, attractiveness, or physical abilities that may be exchanged for other forms of economic, social, or cultural capital"-Hutson. In our society, currently, thin and fit body types are highly coveted and valued. With the theory of "body capital" putting time and effort into obtaining/maintaining an ideal body is seen as a form of investment that allows for your body to gain you advantages.
Hutson mainly focused on how bodies gain authority and respect in specific fields that place higher values on fit bodies, medicine or fitness, but in society today there are many everyday advantages to having fit to normal body types that many people probably don't even notice. There is a blog on tumblr that I cam across awhile ago called "This is Thin Privilege" the blog demonstrates advantages, from small to large, that are gained just by having the thin body that society has constructed as the body ideal.
http://thisisthinprivilege.tumblr.com/
The blog shows examples of benefits of thin bodied individuals and also how the bodies of the other, the fat bodies, can be discriminated against. The idea of our bodies as a business card goes much farther than the fitness and medical realm.
People make assumptions about others within seconds of meeting them, based on their body and appearance. How society constructs and places value on body types influences what others expect of you, there are real tangible benefits for maintaining a socially desirable body. The body as capital presents the body as an investment that says a lot about the individual as a person and can gain returns on that investment in society. Just as there are sexual orientation, gender, sex, racial hierarchies that lead to assumptions and social values there is are body ideals, all of these things are socially constructed hierarchies that are essentially made up by society but produce real word consequences.
I really appreciate the discussion of how “bodily capital” extends beyond the fields of medicine and fitness, because after reading the piece for today I found myself more interested in the concept’s applicability to the average person’s every day life than the obvious spheres that Hutson focuses on (ie. how personal trainers rely on their bodies for credibility). Obviously, the way others perceive our appearance influences our social interactions in a myriad of ways—from the jokes that are told about us to the nicknames we receive and the amount of food that friends expect us to eat, the effects go on and on. Furthermore, as Hutson mentions, it also impacts our professional lives, whether we work as doctors or trainers or anything else. Recently, for example, Seven-Eleven on State Street put up a sign on their window that read something like, “HIRING RELIABLE WORKERS WITH FRIENDLY FACES.” I remember it stuck out to me because I spent some time wondering what constituted a friendly face. If unattractive people are generally less friendly-looking, that would mean even a person’s chances for working at Seven-Eleven (at minimum wage) would be impacted by their appearance.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a lot of very interesting points! The human body certainly does serve as a form of capital in our world, it also creates privilege. Those with a socially desired body are more privileged than those without, they are placed higher in society, and are given a separate set of behaviors and expectations to live up to. It's a reality that is equally interesting and saddening. I recently saw a blog from a young woman who had battled and overcome an eating disorder. Her blog displayed a very atypical "before" and "after" sequence. The first picture was a young college girl, cotton shorts hanging off her and skeletal arms perched at her waist. Per society, this picture of her would be the ideal "after"- a pretty, skinny girl. This picture didn't display beauty, it displayed sickness and depression. The "after" showed this same young lady with glowing rosy cheeks and a significant weight gain. Most would expect these pictures to be reversed, but the really beauty lies in the happiness of her "after" picture. It really stuck with me that our society is so messed up that the ideal "after" isn't so much about happiness but about skinniness. Anything other than fat-->skinny is a fail in society's eyes. I applaud this young lady for taking such a bold step and showing society what beauty actually looks like. I think this is very pertinent to what you're saying in your blog and wanted to point it out to you to spark further discussion/thoughts for you and others in class. Again, thanks for bringing up some very interesting points! Definitely made me think!
ReplyDeleteIn psychology, there is a term called the "halo effect" which states that attractive people are perceived to be good simply based off their appearance. We may assume that better looking people are more caring and hold high morals. Yet, I often wonder if this concept works out like this in everyday life. I can't argue with you and say that there aren't benefits to being attractive and thin but I don't believe it to be that simple. Bias can shift from person to person. Some individuals may participate in fat shaming while others may assume attractive people to be douchebags. It seems to me that they are biases that are reinforced more greatly by the cultural sphere than others. It would not be difficult to find reinforcement for fat shaming. Yet, I do not think one would have a difficult time finding reinforcement for believing that attractive people are dull minded and narcissistic even though it may be less prominent. I think what I'm trying to get at is negative perceptions of people can go both ways, one may just be more common than the other. Thanks for the post.
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