In the wake of one of Americas economic decline, the middle class bandaged up bouts of anxiety with healthism. Healthism fabricates a belief of prioritization of health and fitness over all other values, therefore becoming a feasible way for people to pretend they were creating impactful changes in society. However, healthism did not cure the original problem amongst the middle class, it merely added more side effects. Barbara Ehrenreich, in “The Naked Truth about Fitness,” emphasizes societies declining state of virtues caused by the growing acceptance in healthism. Accepting healthism as a virtue developed into one of Americas greatest illnesses. The widespread epidemic of healthism across America corrupts fundamental values. The essence …show more content…
Fitness consumes society and distracts them from problems emerging around in the country. The problems, the real source of anxiety, keep developing and classes have become to engrossed in themselves to notice. Ehrenreich emphasis, “By confusing health and virtue, we’ve gotten testier, less tolerant, and ultimately less capable of confronting the sources of disease…” (Ehrenreich, 2016, p. 339). Her emphasis sheds light on America’s failure to understand the impact society makes, as a whole, since the individual selves take the focus. American society lost sight of worth and in their attempts to find it placed their worthiness into how strong and toned they became. The worth of America society as a collective is the influence they can bring about and if America can find that worth, as Ehrenreich urges, “…It can make us fit for something: strong enough to fight the big-time polluters, for example, the corporate waste dumpers; tough enough to take on economic arrangements that condemn so many to poverty and to dangerous occupations; lean and powerful enough to demand a more nurturing, less anxiety ridden social ladder” (Ehrenreich, 2016, p. 340). Building up strength and endurance to come together as “We the people” and invoke change is among some of Americas greatest worth. However, if society does not pull the cord of the so-called medicine, that is healthism, off America will never be able to wake up and return to her former
The audience of this publication is the typical health-conscious American folk that are grappling with the pressures of modernity and the morality of embracing natural course of life. The readers are notably people well aware of the controve...
Balko develops an angry tone about the fact that government believes unhealthy people should depend on healthy people or they should not hold any responsibility. Actually, Balko complains the way government prohibits any private insurer to charge additional fee of obese clients is unwise. Balko’s claim is that if people had to pay more financially, they would be more cautious about their choices on what foods should they consume. I agree with him on this point, because if insurers want to charge overweight clients with higher premiums, the clients would try to be fit in the average range to avoid paying any hard-earned money from their pocket. Balko evokes ethos appeals by demonstrating if the government is willingly paid for his anti-cholesterol medicine, then what the motivations for exercising are. He makes the audience sympathize with him by saying that what the government does is wrong. Toward the end, Balko implies that people will make better choices if there is no one responsible for those choices.
Unnatural Causes, is Inequality Making us Sick? Is a documentary produced by California Newsreel, and directed by Lleewled M. Smith. Unnatural Cause analyses the factors which can influence the US population‘s health. The film illustrated several families in order to show how their health is influenced depend on different circumstances. The film is supported by the use of survey research which it is a sociological method to gather data. Additionally, the film gives proved sources showing that The US invests billions of dollars on health but still millions of people die every day. In fact, The USA is one of the richest countries in the world, but it is at the bottom of the list concerning life expectancy. An important question that professionals
Roxane Gay, an American feminist writer and author of “My Body is Wildly Undisciplined” writes about a reality television show of people making sacrifices to reduce their body weight. Roxane Gay is successful in persuading her audience due to the evidence and persuasive personal anecdotes. Roxane focuses on “The Biggest Loser” too much in her article. She uses many examples to explain her argument which were “The Biggest Loser” and “Weight Watchers”, and herself. Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. She only talks about the issues that may have a negative effect of these television shows to persuasive her audience to agree with her. For an example, she uses “The Biggest Loser” to confirm her opinion to explain to her audience that harming your body to feel better is not okay at all. There are other suggestions to reduce your body weight, instead of harming your body. Additional, she gives vivid description on how she felt which made a connection between the author and her audience. The summary of the overall text was satisfying because her audience had better understanding on how she
The idea of Social Darwinism influenced Americans, especially during early 1920’s. The idea of the survival of the fittest is showing that the body is more important to fit in society. Also, the physical fitness is considered as the key of success and a way to fit in society, if someone is not physically fit he will be isolated. The movie “College” (1927) by Buster Keaton, presents the idea of physical culture in college life and how fitness is a key of success which leads efficiency in society.
The video “In Sickness and In Wealth” is about how healthy your body is connected to your means of health. In this video it views the life of four individuals with different lifestyles and different levels of income. In this video it displays the life of a CEO, lab supervisor, janitor and unemployed mother, all from Louisville, Kentucky. It explained how their social class affect their standard of living as well as their health. In this video demonstrate how social class shapes access to control, resources and opportunity, resulting in a health-wealth incline.
Richard Balko and Mary Maxfield discuss personal responsibility, and choices in one’s health in their essays “What You Eat Is Your Business,” and “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating” respectively. Balko feels the government should not intervene in people’s food intake because it is an individual preference. Instead, Balko asserts that the government should foster a program to assist the American people to take on personal responsibility and ownership of their own health. Similarly, Maxfield paints the same picture that our culture now finds it immoral to eat what our body needs, therefore believing in the idea of eating less is healthier. Maxfield points out the multi-billion dollar campaign of corporations into advertising false hope into consumers by buying into eradication of fatness. Why has food have suddenly become a risky subject at the dinner table? And who is to blame? Is it everyone else or do we blame ourselves?
In his essay “The American Paradox”, Michael Pollan illustrates his conclusion that Americans who focus on nutrition have a higher probability of decreasing their well-being. Pollan defines the American paradox as “a notably unhealthy population preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthily.” For most of our human history, our parents and culture have influenced our diet. However, today the idea of what to eat has been based on the opinions of scientists, food markets, and nutritionists. I agree with Pollan’s argument that being preoccupied with what we eat makes us unhealthy, however, we need a balance and a sense of responsibility in what we eat.
The question of what is the government’s role in regulating healthy and unhealthy behavior is one that would probably spark a debate every time. Originally, the role was to assist in regulating and ensure those that were unable to afford or obtain healthcare insurance for various reasons would be eligible for medical care. However, now it seems that politicians are not really concerned about what’s best for the citizens but woul...
The author uses graphs and different forms of interpretation to aid the reader into thinking in a critical and self-reflecting matter. The argument of it being environmental may be cause for concern, but it is not the primary source of the problem. The lack of self-control, self-worth, and education many Americans have concerning health and fitness is the main cause for the obesity epidemic in America today.
The movie drives home that many factors influence the quality of health in our children, as well as adults, yet at the top of America’s Leading Health Indicators are nutrition, physical activity and obesity. This major health epidemic has had an overwhelming and burdening effect on the national deficit as well as on state budgets struggling to meet the high demand for health care costs and ways to provide the necessary safety net programs to fe...
"Historical Collections :: Reflections on Health in Society & Culture." Claude Moore Health Sciences Library | www.hsl.virginia.edu. 13 Feb. 2012 .
In the American Culture we have adapted many ways of the Greek and Roman Empires. Our society has the laid back lifestyle of the Greeks and the physical fitness of the Romans. Statistics show 45 percent of Americans set a goal every year to achieve weight loss/fitness. Of that 45 percent, and just under half of Americans still maintain their New Year’s Resolution (Hub Pages). The question is why is weight-loss so important in America? There are many answers and factors that play into figuring out the equation. One factor is the increase of obesity in our country year in and year out. Other key factors is the impact of media on our culture to look slim and be sexy, and even children’s toy figures have become more masculine and unrealistic. Although our society is becoming more accepting that not everyone can be a Barbie and Ken or resemble characters from our favorite action figures, the combination of these major factors help answer the equation to why weight loss has become so prevalent in our society today.
Most of these articles also argued that healthy policies by themselves cannot achieve the expected health improvement.1-3,7-13 This is why the US healthcare access cannot be improved without paying attention to the social and environmental needs of the poor Americans, who in most cases are at the receiving end. The social determinants of health can only be improved through actions targeted at the factors that improve life.1-3,4-5 Government policies should be translated into actions that are centered on enhancing the conditions in which people live, work, play, and grow.1,3,12 The situation that people are born into should not control their destiny, access to healthcare or other opportunities in life, because it will be then unfair and unjust. 1-3,7-13
Bibliography:.. https://www.palgrave.com/biotonpdfs0333 994571914 cha13.pdf (Accessed 11-04-2014). http://interruptions.net/literature/waitzkin-JHSB89.pdf (Accessed 12-042014). Cliffsnotes.com. Article p: 4 sociology perspectives on health.