IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v148y2016icp60-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Obese people's perceptions of the thin ideal

Author

Listed:
  • Couch, Danielle
  • Thomas, Samantha L.
  • Lewis, Sophie
  • Blood, R. Warwick
  • Holland, Kate
  • Komesaroff, Paul

Abstract

The media play a key role in promoting the thin ideal. A qualitative study, in which we used in depth interviews and thematic analysis, was undertaken to explore the attitudes of 142 obese individuals toward media portrayals of the thin ideal. Participants discussed the thin ideal as a social norm that is also supported through the exclusion of positive media portrayals of obese people. They perceived the thin ideal as an ‘unhealthy’ mode of social control, reflecting on their personal experiences and their concerns for others. Participants' perceptions highlighted the intersections between the thin ideal and gender, grooming and consumerism. Participants' personal responses to the thin ideal were nuanced – some were in support of the thin ideal and some were able to critically reflect and reject the thin ideal. We consider how the thin ideal may act as a form of synoptical social control, working in tandem with wider public health panoptical surveillance of body weight.

Suggested Citation

  • Couch, Danielle & Thomas, Samantha L. & Lewis, Sophie & Blood, R. Warwick & Holland, Kate & Komesaroff, Paul, 2016. "Obese people's perceptions of the thin ideal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 60-70.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:148:y:2016:i:c:p:60-70
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615302422
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.034?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crawshaw, Paul, 2012. "Governing at a distance: Social marketing and the (bio) politics of responsibility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 200-207.
    2. anonymous, 2006. "Banks' role still crucial, Fed governor says," Financial Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 19(Q 2).
    3. ., 2006. "Corporate Governance Reforms," Chapters, in: Reforming China’s State-owned Enterprises and Banks, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. -, 2006. "A History of Governesses in Russia," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 285-290.
    5. anonymous, 2006. "Mishkin sworn in as Fed governor," Financial Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 19(Q 4).
    6. ., 2006. "Islam, Governance and Economic Development," Chapters, in: Middle East Oil Exporters, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. anonymous, 2006. "Fed governor Olson resigns Board to lead PCAOB," Financial Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 19(Q 3).
    8. ., 2006. "Government Finances," Chapters, in: Middle East Oil Exporters, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guta, Adrian & Strike, Carol & Flicker, Sarah & J. Murray, Stuart & Upshur, Ross & Myers, Ted, 2014. "Governing through community-based research: Lessons from the Canadian HIV research sector," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 250-261.
    2. Christiansen Arndt, 2010. "Governance in der Wirtschaftspolitik. Besprechung des von Renate Ohr herausgegebenen Tagungsbandes," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 61(1), pages 402-407, January.
    3. Fernandez, Fabrice & Lézé, Samuel, 2014. "The psychiatric report as moral tool: A case study in a French district court," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 41-48.
    4. Langford, Rebecca & Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2013. "A health equity critique of social marketing: Where interventions have impact but insufficient reach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 133-141.
    5. Alexander Maune, 2015. "Corporate Governance in Zimbabwe: An Overview of Its Current State," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(1), pages 167-178, January.
    6. Sarah Atkinson & Anne-Marie Bagnall & Rhiannon Corcoran & Jane South & Sarah Curtis, 2020. "Being Well Together: Individual Subjective and Community Wellbeing," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1903-1921, June.
    7. Shih, P. & Worth, H. & Travaglia, J. & Kelly-Hanku, A., 2017. "Pastoral power in HIV prevention: Converging rationalities of care in Christian and medical practices in Papua New Guinea," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 51-58.
    8. Karaevli, Ayse & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2021. "Family ownership, market development, and internationalization of Turkish business groups (1925-2017)," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(6).
    9. Gerum Elmar & Mölls Sascha H., 2013. "Corporate Governance-Systeme und Unternehmensfinanzierung - Empirische Befunde für deutsche Großunternehmen / Corporate Governance-Systems and Corporate Financing – Empirical Evidence for large corpor," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 64(1), pages 195-220, January.
    10. Alessandro Nuvolari & Pier Angelo Toninelli & MIchelangelo Vasta, 2016. "What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur? Historical Evidence from Italy (XIX-XX Centuries)," Department of Economics University of Siena 727, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    11. Wolters, Anna & de Wert, Guido & van Schayck, Onno & Horstman, Klasien, 2014. "Constructing a trial as a personal lifestyle change project: Participants' experiences in a clinical study for nicotine vaccination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 116-123.
    12. Mroczek-Dąbrowska Katarzyna & Shemesh Yaron, 2020. "(Re)-structuring the Ceo’s compensation—the case of Israel," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 6(3), pages 105-117, August.
    13. Carter, Eric D., 2015. "Making the Blue Zones: Neoliberalism and nudges in public health promotion," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 374-382.
    14. Butler, Clare, 2019. "Working the 'wise’ in speech and language therapy: Evidence-based practice, biopolitics and ‘pastoral labour’," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1-8.
    15. McCabe, Katharine, 2016. "Mothercraft: Birth work and the making of neoliberal mothers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 177-184.
    16. Moonsung Kang, 2007. "Opportunities and Challenges to Vietnamese Accession to the WTO," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 10(1), pages 73-90, March.
    17. Brijnath, Bianca & Antoniades, Josefine, 2016. "“I'm running my depression:” Self-management of depression in neoliberal Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1-8.
    18. Fabian Koenings & Tina Haussen & Stefan Toepfer & Silke Uebelmesser, 2021. "Coming to stay or to go? Stay intention and involved uncertainty of international students," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 329-351, March.
    19. Henrekson, Magnus & Sanandaji, Tino, 2016. "Owner-Level Taxes and Business Activity," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 12(1), pages 1-94, March.
    20. Jeacle, Ingrid & Carter, Chris, 2023. "Calorie accounting: The introduction of mandatory calorie labelling on menus in the UK food sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:148:y:2016:i:c:p:60-70. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.