"Normalization of the Body"
I called my mum for an afternoon coffee but unfortunately my
offer was declined. My offer was declined not because my mum did not want to
spent time with me, but because she had to be with my five-year-old nephew at his
school. Now this seems weird, why would a five-year child be ‘asked’ to stay after school? My nephew
was asked by his teacher to stay back after school because the teacher thought he
was too fat, his body was not normal and he needed to lose weight. They had structured a program for him where he was required to actively engage in running
exercise for 30 minutes. This information somehow changed my mood from an
enthusiastic inflated feeling of meeting my mum to a deflated one filled with questions, what is a normal body, how should it look and why? I
remembered the time when chubbiness was a sign of healthiness. He was not alone, there were others with him in this race too.
“Healthism/ Normalism” of the body
We live in a society with a culture of “healthism”, which places
moral obligation and blames on individuals for their health. The discourse of
the body, health and illness is always in a race and attempt to normalize everyone’s body. Identities that fall outside
the “normal” healthy body ideal are in need of “restoration”. We are always in the run to normalize our body!
School is an example of an
institution where bodies are classified as “normal” or “abnormal”. Seen as a
disciplinary environment, it actively produces and maintains the normative body
weight and size of children. Too much or too little weight is identified as a deviance and children’s bodies become targets of practices that aim to correct or normalize them. Those considered to be not normal (according to the dominant discourse) are placed under surveillance and monitoring in order to become controlled. Private knowledge of the body is made an object of the public policy and placed under the criticism and judgment of others.
In schools children learn the boundaries of the acceptable or ideal body in relation to weight and health at a very young age. This is motivated by the belief that it is for the ‘well being’ of the child. The quest of the normative body ideal, although aimed at improving health, ironically has a negative bearing on the well being of young children. It may produce anxieties about one's body that can result in ‘unhealthy’ eating and exercise practices. Such practice of establishing standards and defining normality is also a system of grading children. The labeling creates a feeling of the “otherness”, not belonging, shame and guilt in these children.
In schools children learn the boundaries of the acceptable or ideal body in relation to weight and health at a very young age. This is motivated by the belief that it is for the ‘well being’ of the child. The quest of the normative body ideal, although aimed at improving health, ironically has a negative bearing on the well being of young children. It may produce anxieties about one's body that can result in ‘unhealthy’ eating and exercise practices. Such practice of establishing standards and defining normality is also a system of grading children. The labeling creates a feeling of the “otherness”, not belonging, shame and guilt in these children.
The discourse on “healthism”
is that individuals are responsible for taking control of their health and for
making healthy choices. The problem here is to what extend do individuals have
control over their own health?
I am enjoying my Yoga class. I guess it’s an addiction.
Once you get into it you are in it.
Once you get into it you are in it.
