ETDs

This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.

In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.

Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.

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Bearing the Weight of Healthism: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Women’s Health, Fitness, and Body Image in the Gym

Description
Dominant discourses of health and fitness perpetuate particular ideologies of what it means to be “healthy” and “fit,” often conflating the two terms through conceptualizing the appearance of physical fitness as health. The discourse of healthism, a concept rooted in the economic concept of neoliberalism, fosters health as an individual…

Dominant discourses of health and fitness perpetuate particular ideologies of what it means to be “healthy” and “fit,” often conflating the two terms through conceptualizing the appearance of physical fitness as health. The discourse of healthism, a concept rooted in the economic concept of neoliberalism, fosters health as an individual and moral imperative to perform responsible citizenship, making the appearance of the “fit” body a valued representation of both health and self-discipline. This perspective neglects the social determinants of health and ignores the natural variation of the human body in shape, size, and ability, assuming that health can be seen visually on the body. Through a case study of one particular location of a popular commercial gym chain in an urban city of the Southwestern United States, this study employs a critical discourse analysis of the gym space itself including a collection of advertisements, photographs, and signs, in addition to participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with diverse women who exercise at this gym to explore how women resist and/or (re)produce discourses of healthism related to health, fitness, and body image. Ultimately, critical analysis shows that the gym itself produces and reifies the discourse of healthism through narratives of simultaneous empowerment and obligation. Though women in the gym reproduced this dominant narrative throughout their interviews, internal contradictions and nuggets of resistance emerged. These nuggets of resistance create fractures in the dominant discourse, shining light into areas that can be explored further for resistance practices through sense-making, necessitating a language of resistance.
ContributorsPreston, Summer Lane (Author) / Lederman, Linda C (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Olga I (Committee member) / Fonow, Mary Margaret (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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We are the Bridge and We are the Gap: Black Women's Sisterhood as a Practice to Increase Health Status

Description
Over the last four centuries, Black women have been overwhelmingly understood, imagined, and defined through a Eurocentric and oppressive lens. The Eurocentric or white lens places pseudo-characteristics on Black women that inaccurately describe them. The qualities ascribed to Black women are rooted in racial ideologies that benefit and progress the…

Over the last four centuries, Black women have been overwhelmingly understood, imagined, and defined through a Eurocentric and oppressive lens. The Eurocentric or white lens places pseudo-characteristics on Black women that inaccurately describe them. The qualities ascribed to Black women are rooted in racial ideologies that benefit and progress the interest of White supremacy. This history has placed Black women in tension with institutionalized medicine, discouraging them from seeking or using healthcare resources. Without trust in a system positioned to heal, treat, and prevent health ailments, Black women cannot dialogue with those that are a part of that system. Paulo Freire argues that "dialogue is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world (Freire, 2000, p. 90)." By centering Black women and their voices, I envision (re)naming the world. Understanding how Black women from Lincoln County, Mississippi describe their health and bodies sheds light on their daily experiences that facilitate self-care, womanhood, and identity. This dissertation covers three related studies that are addressing: 1) how Black women from Mississippi see their bodies outside of deficit health, 2) how Black women’s sisterhood has been a collective effort to build womanhood and health, and how societal stereotypes can interfere or damage the progress of sisterhood, and 3) the importance of allowing for Black women’s ways of knowing to create liberatory data collection methods that represent who they are and their truth. I examine these dynamics using a mixed-methods approach including community-based participatory research and rapid ethnographic assessment sampling techniques (e.g., working with a community advisor), semi-structured interviews, Sister-girl Talks (focus groups), participant observation, and autoethnography. The results of the three-study mixed methods dissertation has both theoretical and practical implications for understanding the vital role that Black women need to play bring healing to their health in both healthcare settings (e.g., clinics) and healthcare planning (health evaluation programs and interventions.
ContributorsMitchell, Charlayne (Author) / Slade, Alexandra (Thesis advisor) / SturtzSreetharan, Cindi (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Olga I (Committee member) / Ore, Ersula J (Committee member) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021