Media's Moral Panic on Obesity

Media provides a very important contribution in the recognition of deviance which is defined as "behaviour that violates the normative rules, understandings, or expectations of social systems" (Cohen, as cited by Roach Anleu, 2006, 17). Different forms of media however, including magazines, newspaper articles, and online social media are influenced by the fan-base or readership and therefore present issues in different lights and can vary in the identification of deviance. I will consider the treatment of deviance in various forms of media in relation to the issue of obesity and the lifestyle associated with being overweight in Western cultures. In some cases, the individual can be labelled as deviant and held responsible for their unhealthy lifestyle. Childhood obesity brings yet another layer to this issue and idea of 'deviance' and also gives an opportunity to the mass media to induce a moral panic.

Social media such as Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr do not frame deviance in a consistent way due to the millions of users publishing individual opinions, and do not necessarily represent the values of society as a whole when identifying what actions or attitudes are deviant or not. "Attitudes toward obesity rest upon moral foundations" (Clinard & Meier, 2011, 447) and there is an evident divide in the identification of deviance through the 'fat shaming' practices online as well as the 'fat pride' and 'body acceptance' movements. The labelling perspective can be applied to this phenomenon as it "focuses on the social reaction . . . not on the person who violates norms" (Roach Anleu, 2006, 56). Labelling the lifestyle behind obesity as deviant depends heavily upon the social/cultural audience and public perception which can vary significantly between different social groups. Many different stances can be taken on why obese people are deviant but there is often a mutual disapproval besides the few that promote the lifestyle. Maddox, Back and Liederma (1986) explain the 'deviant career' and what makes the deviant stubborn to reform:

"The deviant career takes shape as the individual learns that the costs of resisting his role assignment as a deviant is less rewarding than playing the role; the deviant career, therefore, involves finding some satisfactions in the role, developing some protective justifications for continuing to play the role, and devising ways of minimizing punishment" (288).

In relation to the lifestyle of obesity, this can be applied to those who are overweight and rally behind the fat acceptance movement in a justification for their lifestyle that is stigmatised and considered deviant by the general public.

Contrastingly, newsprint or television tend to showcase what is collectively thought as deviant to promote interest in their institution or organisation. This uses the idea of Durkheim's functionalist perspective that deviance "unites people in shared indignation and outrage when valued rules of conduct are broken" (Roach Anleu, 2006, 46). This form of media plays an important role in the identification of deviance since it strives to please the readers who are assumed conformists to their culture's social norms, expectations and laws. This approach gives rise to the occurrence of moral panics as "the media can influence and shape public perception by choosing what and how to present information" (Bastian, 2011, 135). Highlighting or downplaying certain aspects of an issue allows the media to "'fan public indignation' and 'engineer' moral panics in order to generate news and appeal to the imagination and concerns of their readers" (Garland, 2008, 15).

An editorial featured in The Sydney Morning Herald June 13 2015 described "the obesity epidemic engulfing us" as "a super-sized health emergency." This language is commonly used in newsprint media to promote a sense of worry in readers, especially with the description of it being an epidemic, likening obesity to an infectious disease. Katsambanis' opinion piece published August 03 2015 in The Sydney Moring Herald also expressed serious concern yet accused parents in the mistreatment of children through overeating. Obesity in children can be depicted quite differently by the media as they are no longer considered the deviants for their lifestyle and the blame is placed on the parents who are considered deviant for bad parenting as they are responsible for the child's wellbeing as their guardian. Katsambanis states that parents should not be "condemning our children to lifelong problems" that is connected with obesity, the language almost framing the lifestyle associated with being overweight as a death sentence.

Taking a more subtle approach, movies and television shows tend to also display hot topics or current issues in society. In relation to the Western world's issue with obesity this form of media tends to promote the slender healthy figure as being valued and beautiful. Representations of society on television can depict the 'ideal' society and in this case the ideal body and consequently the ideal lifestyle. Likeable characters in movies tend to be deliberately portrayed as beautiful as "appearance reflects a morality of eating, staying fit, taking care of oneself and so on; it speaks to an individual's true nature" (Grønning, Scambler, & Tjora, 2012, 267). This theme extends to lifestyle and celebrity gossip magazines which emphasise the importance of looks and health. Celebrities are targeted for gaining weight or praised for being fit and healthy, and women's lifestyle magazines frequently promote advice columns on how to lose weight quickly and live a healthy lifestyle. Through the favourable depictions of slim people, "a moral responsibility is foisted on the individual to choose a good diet and make 'correct' choices" (Grønning, Scambler, & Tjora, 2012, 267).

The varying forms of media each play an important role in the identification of deviance which may differ from one another. Collectively, the opinions from the sample of people on social media may not fairly represent the larger population. It is a reasonable assumption to make, therefore, that online social media is unreliable in its identification of deviance as previously defined by Cohen. Newsprint media, however, not only identifies pre-existing deviant practices or actions, it also plays a key role in inducing moral panics in the way deviance is depicted and creates potentially permanent physical records. Social media, newsprint media, magazines and television all show the value behind being fit and healthy whilst demoralising the lifestyle associated with obesity and labelling it as deviant.

References

Bastian, A. (2011). Representations of childhood obesity in Australian newsprint media and academic literature. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 35(2), 135-139. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2011.00660.x

Clinard, M. B., & Meier, R. F. (2011). Sociology of Deviant Behaviour (14th ed). California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Available from https://books.google.com.au

Editor. (2015, June 13). Obesity epidemic a super-sized burden on taxpayers. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/obesity-epidemic-a-supersized-burden-on-taxpayers-20150612-ghmutu.html

Garland, D. (2008). On the concept of moral panic. Crime Media Culture, 4(1), 9-30. doi: 10.1177/1741659007087270

Grønning, I., Scambler, G., & Tjora, A. (2012). From fatness to badness: The modern morality of obesity. Health, 17(3), 266 –283. doi: 10.1177/1363459312447254

Katsambanis, K. (2015, August 03). Parents should hang head in shame over obese kids. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/comment/karalee-katsambanis-parents-should-hang-head-in-shame-over-obese-kids-20150802-gipw7q

Maddox, G. L., Back, K. W., & Liederma, V. R. (1986). Overweight as Social Deviance and Disability. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 9(4), 287-298. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2948537

Roach Anleu, S. L. (2006). The Body. Deviance, Conformity & Control (14th ed.). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.