This was a really insightful read, and I appreciate the way you’ve broken down healthism as more than just a personal mindset—it’s a cultural force with real consequences. I completely agree that the obsession with individual responsibility for health often ignores the wider systemic and environmental factors at play. Governments and corporations seem to ruthlessly exploit this, pushing personal blame while failing to address larger public health issues.
That said, I wonder if healthism itself inherently encourages discrimination, or if it’s more that existing societal biases (racism, ableism, classism) use healthism as a tool to justify exclusion. It feels like the media and wellness industries reinforce narrow health ideals, but I’m not sure if healthism itself is the cause.
I do believe there’s value in teaching people how to live healthier lives, but as you point out, the problem is when this shifts into pressure, guilt, and profit-driven messaging rather than education and support. Your article really made me reflect on where that line is. Thank you for sharing these perspectives!
Thanks so much for reading, and for your thoughtful reflections! I think these are really good inquiries. It made me recognize that I'm thinking less about these as cause and effect (i.e., healthism causing discrimination) and more of a cluster (with healthism goes discrimination). They're tied in to each other; similarly, capitalism goes with healthism (not necessarily a cause/effect) in that the wellness industry profits from and reinforces those ideals. Fascinating for me to think about. Again, grateful for your thoughts and the prompt!
This was a really insightful read, and I appreciate the way you’ve broken down healthism as more than just a personal mindset—it’s a cultural force with real consequences. I completely agree that the obsession with individual responsibility for health often ignores the wider systemic and environmental factors at play. Governments and corporations seem to ruthlessly exploit this, pushing personal blame while failing to address larger public health issues.
That said, I wonder if healthism itself inherently encourages discrimination, or if it’s more that existing societal biases (racism, ableism, classism) use healthism as a tool to justify exclusion. It feels like the media and wellness industries reinforce narrow health ideals, but I’m not sure if healthism itself is the cause.
I do believe there’s value in teaching people how to live healthier lives, but as you point out, the problem is when this shifts into pressure, guilt, and profit-driven messaging rather than education and support. Your article really made me reflect on where that line is. Thank you for sharing these perspectives!
Thanks so much for reading, and for your thoughtful reflections! I think these are really good inquiries. It made me recognize that I'm thinking less about these as cause and effect (i.e., healthism causing discrimination) and more of a cluster (with healthism goes discrimination). They're tied in to each other; similarly, capitalism goes with healthism (not necessarily a cause/effect) in that the wellness industry profits from and reinforces those ideals. Fascinating for me to think about. Again, grateful for your thoughts and the prompt!