Obesity As Immorality Politics In England Since 1930

Obesity as Immorality

In “Dangerous sexualities: Medico­moral politics in England since 1930” by Mort, as well as nowadays, health issues like obesity are moralised and used by the privileged to repress the poor. To validate this thesis, I will show that morality health and the poor are connected in the past and today. In the following I will show how the ones in power in a society use this moral­health debate to suppress the poor. Finally it will be illustrated how scientific research and medical debate is used for this course, in the 19th century and today. This will firstly be shown by illustrating how low socioeconomic status is connected to immoral behaviour. For this I will illustrate how diseases are being moralised and linked to the

Additionally, the fat body, through media, refers to fast food, processed food, to the poor, uneducated and unhealthy (Campbell). Thinness, on the other hand, stands for discipline, success, beauty, a healthy lifestyle and morality in society today and is designated to the people in power (Campbell). As a result, fat people are being shamed in the media and public space. As a consequence, fat people and people which refer to fat people, people with a low socioeconomic status, are being repressed, by the one with cultural power. By repressing in this case I mean that the one in power, the media, tells people what to eat, how they have to look, what they have to buy (Campbell). Thereby, even the act of buying cloths, becomes an ideological one, since cloths should be “flattering” which means, that they should make a person look slim (Campbell). The latter arguments illustrate, that in the 19th century as well as today, the people with power set the cultural standards which repressed the ones of low socioeconomic status. The lack of culture in this case stands for immorality and becomes the instrument to impute blame on poor and fat

Solely the expression “obesity” displays a moral hysteria which assigns public health issues on fat bodies and makes this body type an immoral one (Campbell). That shows that in the 19th century as well as today, health issues are being moralised and assigned to social class by the ones with power in society.

It is important to be aware of the fact that diseases are being moralised, since it leads to suppression of people, that suffer from those health issues. Scientific language distracts from the fact that in this debate society doesn’t talk about health issues but rather about cultural problems. What is seriously troubling, is the fact that this pattern is used by people in power in the past as well as today. Of course one single person can’t change the fact that in the media fat bodies are being shamed and thin bodies are glorified, but to be aware of the fact and trying to not take part in the culture of shaming is a step into the right direction. In the long term, for a more equal society also in terms of social class, it is necessary that the media changes the signs and the language it uses to describe body types in relation to social class. The question is, if people in power do want a more equal society. I doubt