Obesity Stigma and Constructed Identities: A Sociological Insight

It is here that all theorist; Goffman, Foucault and Agamben offer an insight into how an individual can become discriminated through the power of social interaction and the state, suggesting ways in which obese individuals are able to cope after they are stigmatised. Everyday individuals encounter social situations that one does not feel comfortable with and for obese people this can be an activity such as simply walking down the street that ‘normal’ people take for granted. No one can prepare for a performance for these kinds of situations and thus, individuals create their performances; modifying their behaviour and appearance to an extent that none of their actual identity is apparent, it results in a constructed identity. This performed

Foucault and Goffman’s theories are centralised on how an individual’s identity is formed through the process of power and expert knowledge and through Goffman’s work, it is also reminded of the social rules that are underpinned in Foucault and Agamben’s theory too. Agamben and Foucault theory of Bio-power and Bio-politics offers many ways thinking about obesity and what control the government holds over these individuals. Even though in some respects this form of control is discriminative, the power the state hold over the population has a responsibility for other individual’s health and insure good welfare. In the article Obesity, stigma, and responsibility in health care: A synthesis of qualitative studies (2011) it states that ‘obesity is a stigmatized condition with multiple forms of prejudice and discrimination in settings of employment, health care, education, interpersonal relationships, and the media’ (Malterud & Ulriksen, 2011). Thus, this interlinks with Goffman’s ideas concerning individuals that do not fit in with societies normative expectations face these types of discrimination and stigmatisation in many settings which raises many questions such as; ‘how does the stigmatized person respond to his situation?’ (Goffman, 1990: 9). Thus, being obese does not necessarily make the individual feel unhappy, however it is the judgment and discrimination that cause the greatest psychological harm. Being a target of weight discrimination can too lead to self-sabotaging behaviours such as the gym or even going to the doctors to sort these issues in order to protect themselves from future stigmatisation. The article emphasises that ‘body weight becomes a moral issue, indicating the strength of a person's self. Goffman described how stigma is expressed from others and as internalized