Media Representations of " Health" and " Healthy" AND Objective analysis of what Health and Healthy really means
HEALTH IN THE MEDIA
Over the last decade our society has become increasingly interested in living healthier. Our fast-food nation has real concerns when it comes to obesity as well as high instances of heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other problems that could potentially be avoided by adopting better eating and exercise habits. The media, and corporations, have picked up on this trend and edepict being healthy as a choice made by people who value themselves.
I did a Google image search in order to gain some perspective about how representations of " health" and " healthy" occur in the media. I will attach my collage of images onto my discussion board post for those who are curious. First of all, one of my first observations of how healthy people are portrayed is that they are very happy. Serenity and happiness seem to be ever present in the representations of healthy people. I think we all know that just because you're healthy, doesn't necessarily mean that you are happy.
Another interesting observation is that there is a much higher representation of representations of " health" and " healthy" with white people in them than people of color which most likely leads to my next point. I believe that the media is trying to make being healthy seem like a choice made by those people who are willing to put a lot of time, money, and effort into what they put into their mouths and physical exercise. Perhaps the media is geared towards mostly white people because the marketers think that white people have the capital to buy the vitamins, gourmet waters, shoes, exercise equipment, gym memberships, and prescription drugs. One of the images that I did find on my Google image search was a poster for little dolls called " Homies" and it depicted a group of Hispanic people lifting weights with very stereotypical dress and hair; the caption read: " Homies Health Club"
Television depicts health as a choice also. My favorite public service announcement of all time shows a man in a doctors office, who, when he hears some dance music, stands up and begins to dance! The announcement is meant to tell people to try to exercise 30 minutes everyday. Another trend we see is that eating organically is " Healthier" when it could potentially mean that it is just more expensive. Samantha from Sex in the City only ate organically and did yoga.
ACADEMIC TREATMENT OF "HEALTH" and "HEALTHY"
The Oxford English dictionary defines Health, the noun, as : 1. a. Soundness of body; that condition in which its functions are duly and efficiently discharged.
and Healthy as: Possessing or enjoying good health; hale or sound (in body), so as to be able to discharge all functions efficiently.
By these definitions we see that healthiness could be seen as the absence of sickness or injury, this is not what we find in the media. The media most certainly dresses up ideas of healthiness with connotations of self-esteem, confidence, strength, beauty, and even to some extent luxury.
After perusing a verity of health related journals on the library website, I see that most of the concerns in these magazines are far more concerned with keeping people free of diseases and making sure that people have health plans so if they do get sick, they will be able to afford medical care. Ideas in the Media do seem to differ from those in the medical journals. The media represents being "healthy" almost like a lifestyle or counter culture. If you're healthy, you shop in the organic isles, go mountain climbing and read fitness magazines. The medical journals would argue that you are healthy if your cholesterol rate is low and you are within your BMI limits.