BODYWORK AS A MORAL IMPERATIVE - SOME CRITICAL NOTES ON HEALTH AND FITNESS

This paper provides a critique of the processes by which health and fi tness have moved forward on the cultural agenda. It is argued that the development and promotion of cultural beliefs about health, while oft en well intended, flow from and help reproduce structures of inequalit y and relations of dominance. It is also suggested that the health and fitness movement incorporates a moral imperative which has consequenc es for class and gender relations. Our analysis demystifies some of th e taken-for-granted assumptions underlying popular beliefs about the r elationship between exercise, fitness, and health. We conclude by chal lenging some of the orthodoxies surrounding current social pressures t o pursue ascetic lifestyles.