Obesity and Physical Deviance

2442 Words5 Pages

Physical beauty is constructed by the society that we live in. We are socialized from a very young age to aspire to become what our culture deems ideal. Living in the United States, as in many other Western cultures, we are expected to be well-educated, maintain middle-class or upper-class status, be employed as well as maintain a physical standard of beauty. Although beauty is relative to each culture, it is obvious that we as Americans, especially women, are expected to be maintain a youthful appearance, wear cosmetics and fashionable clothes, but most importantly: not to be overweight. Our society is socially constructed to expect certain physical features to be the norm, anything outside this is considered deviant. Obesity is defined as outside the norms of our culture's aesthetic norms (Gros). “People who do not match idealized or normative expectations of the body are subjected to stigmatization” (Heckert 32). Obesity is a physical deviance; it is one that is an overwhelming problem in our society as we are always judged daily, by our appearance. Those who do not conform to the standards of beauty, especially when it comes to weight, are stigmatized and suffer at the hands of a society that labels them as deviants. Labeling theory is what makes obesity categorized as a physical deviance. “Labeling theory (in regards to obesity) focuses on three important issues: the relativity of deviance, the societal reaction or labeling of deviance and deviants, and the outcomes of being labeled” (Heckert 34). Social control defines obesity as deviant and then labels those who are obese as deviant. Those who “overeat” and are considered overweight are seen to be contributing to their deviancy (Schaefer). So within the context of being ... ... middle of paper ... ... Heckert, Druann, and Pricilla Sissem. "The Stigmatization of Women of Size." Great Plains Sociologist 15 (2003): 32-49. 05 Nov. 2005. Kowner, Rotem. "Effects of Social Deviance Labels on Judgments of Facial Attractiveness: A Comparison of Labeling Procedures Using Japanese Raters." International Journal of Psychology 33 (1998): 1-16. 05 Nov. 2005 . Puhl, R., & Brownell, K.D. Bias, Discrimination and Obesity. Obesity Research. 2001; 9: 788- 805. Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology. 5th ed. McGraw-Hill Companies, 2003. "Stigatization of Obesity." Gros.org. 05 Nov. 2005 . Wallace, Debra L. "Overweight actress writes book and revels in her role-model status." Dimensions Online. 1 Nov. 2005 .

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