Mangoes, Beaches and Fitness: Healthism Among Young Women in New Zealand

Abstract

'Healthism' is an emergent norm that underlies a rise in health-consciousness movements across most Westernised societies. Linked to neoliberalism, 'healthism' is a set of beliefs that frames health as an important individual pursuit connected to general wellbeing. Often affecting women in particular, the rhetoric is further complicated by the presence of body image discourse, with the healthy female body commonly portrayed in popular media as a commercialised product to be obtained through self-monitoring and self-control. Such messages are often framed by a postfeminist rhetoric that celebrates these individual pursuits as a form of empowerment. Despite clear acknowledgment of the pervasiveness of healthism in women, its social dimensions are not yet fully understood. Using both a feminist standpoint epistemology and an established critical lens, this qualitative study aims to understand the impact of gender, socioeconomic factors, and the media on healthism in young New Zealand women. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with women aged between 18 to 30 years old to explore how healthism manifests in health values, understandings, and practices. These interviews were partnered with demographic checklists and interactive computer sessions to measure socioeconomic positioning and observe participants information practices. An interpretive analysis of the data revealed healthism as a system of contradictions and battlegrounds across which young women negotiate health constructs and values in their daily lives. The critical analysis established strong links between health and neoliberalism, identity, morality, public health, and gender. Taken together, the results of this study present healthism as a complex discourse employed by young women to navigate a culture of postfeminist health ideals. It concludes that further studies of the role of the media and socioeconomic factors in influencing this discourse can serve to identify essential points of intervention.