Checking our Healthism
It’s time to examine the harms that come from equating being “healthy” with being “good.”
Photo by Online Marketing on Unsplash
If you’re up for it, I encourage you to take a few minutes to note what comes to mind when you read the following statements:
“They are so healthy - not only do they find the time to cook but they also workout everyday!”
“Can you believe he’s eating ice cream? He clearly doesn’t care about his health.”
Who do you envision is being discussed in both of these comments? What traits do each of these people have? How did you feel towards them?
If you’re like me, which is to say you grew up in a society rooted in systems of oppression, your automatic thoughts likely generated very specific images of what a “healthy” and an “unhealthy” person looks like. If you’re also like me and forever in the process of unlearning and critiquing these automatic thoughts (because you know full well they’re bullsh*t), then let me introduce you to “healthism.”
“...healthism is a belief or attitude viewing personal health as within that person’s control, entirely attainable, and a moral good.”
“Health,” while seemingly benign and simple, is actually quite a loaded term these days.
Because our society has equated health with morality, many people strive for “health,” especially those who live in marginalized bodies, as a form of protection from the ire of a culture that derides participation in “unhealthy” behaviors. Take the following examples:
Folks who struggle with having a variety of foods want to increase variety sometimes not out of their own desire, but due to the desire to avoid the shame/teasing that’s directed at them in social gatherings.
People pursue weight loss (which is not a health-promoting behavior but is marketed as such) often with the longing of having more access (think knowing you can fit in any seat in an auditorium, feel comfortable on an airplane, or walk into Target to buy an outfit) and to avoid weight stigma with its own deleterious consequences.
What do these things have in common? These are both reactions to try to ascertain safety and avoid shame & stigma…and for good reason. Via healthism, shame & stigma are things that our culture weaponizes and that, conversely, carry with them their own dire consequences when it comes to mental and physical well-being. But does shaming people into better health sound right to you? Should someone’s health status change how we view them? Or is this what we’ve been taught to believe over centuries of conditioning that have upheld the idea that there is a hierarchy of bodies? (You can guess which statement I believe.)
Here’s what I know:
You do not owe anyone your health status.
You cannot fully control your health status.
Your well-being is your business.
*Source of quote: https://withinhealth.com/learn/articles/healthism-when-a-focus-on-healthy-living-becomes-problematic
**There is SO much more to say on this topic as well as others such as ableism and racism. @jessicawilson.msrd, @daringfat, and @dietitiananna are fantastic places to learn more!