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Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Stereotypes

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p0rtia
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Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Stereotypes

#1

Post by p0rtia »

Been meaning to start a thread on this for at least a year. Ran across the terms Devalued Stereotypes and Discredited Attributes yesterday whilst researching societal effects of body-shaming and thought this was the time to pipe up. It's not an in-depth essay (and leans toward the nature as opposed to nurture aspects), but it provides a lot of useful language. More to come.

It's hard to realize that, by normalizing stigmatization, body-shaming et al. hurt more than the person being targeted, but I fall in the camp of those who think it does.

Here's the essay (sort of a review article), "Stigma," that made me take the plunge.

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/matth ... ldraft.pdf
Stigma is an attribute that conveys devalued stereotypes. Erving Goffman (1963, 3)classically defined stigma as an “attribute that is deeply discrediting.”A discredited attribute could be readily discernable, such as one’s skin color or body size, or could be hidden but nonetheless discreditable if revealed, such as one’s criminal record or struggles with mental illness.

Most people, Goffman(1963, 138)argued,experience the role of being stigmatized“at least in some connections and in some phases of life.”Indeed, Goffman’s broad definition of stigma incorporates many contemporary discredited attributes, including what he defined as “tribal stigmas” (e.g., race, ethnicity, and religion), “physical deformities” (e.g., deafness, blindness, and leprosy), and “blemishes of character” (e.g., homosexuality, addiction, and mental illness).

Drawing on Goffman but incorporating a broader concern for the operation of power in society, Link and Phelan define stigma as the co-occurrence of four processes: (1) labeling human differences; (2) stereotyping such differences; (3) separating those labeled from “us”; and (4) status loss and discrimination against those labeled.

Future research should bridge levels of analysis, compare the micro-and macro-level causes and consequences of stigma among different social groups, and identify the conditions that foster destigmatization.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#2

Post by Editor Korir »

Are we not allowed to body shame Donald Trump for being morbidly obese and wearing an adult diaper🤷‍♂️
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#3

Post by raison de arizona »

Editor Korir wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:55 pm Are we not allowed to body shame Donald Trump for being morbidly obese and wearing an adult diaper🤷‍♂️
We make fun of Trump because he denies these things, claims a lower weight, etc. Not because of them.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#4

Post by Suranis »

There is a trend over here, especially in Britain, to have programmes that actively attack people if they don't have a certain shape or look a certain way, with the promise of improving them. This can turn into a whole barrage of passive aggressive insults.

But it seems theres plenty of that over on your side as well

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/makeover ... 0e273f448c


"The Swan," which aired for two seasons starting in 2004, is definitely one of the most destructive makeover shows to have ever existed. In fact, media critic Jennifer L. Pozner called the show “the most sadistic reality show of the decade."

Women on the show received very extreme makeovers that involved plenty of plastic surgery, and were then pitted against each other in a pageant-style competition in hopes of being crowned "The Swan." Each week featured two women deemed "ugly," but once they underwent their makeovers, only one of them would advance to the pageant. Throughout the entire process, which generally took months, they weren't even allowed to look at themselves in the mirror.

If the show taught us anything, it's that plastic surgery isn't the answer to solving one's insecurities. Just look at Lorrie Arias. The former contestant underwent more procedures than any other on the show, and 10 years later told HuffPost she lives with depression, is bipolar, struggles with agoraphobia and believes she has body dysmorphic disorder.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#5

Post by p0rtia »

Editor Korir wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:55 pm Are we not allowed to body shame Donald Trump for being morbidly obese and wearing an adult diaper🤷‍♂️
You're allowed to, free speech and all. But you demean yourself when you do, and you contribute to cruel social attitudes. What do you think folks who are morbidly obese and wearing adult diapers feel when they read these gratuitous slams? Your friends, maybe even yourself some day.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#6

Post by Editor Korir »

Donald Trump is incontinent because he’s a decades long drug abuser. His addiction to cocaine and Adderall led to his loss of bladder and bowed control. I don’t know anyone who abused, and continues to this day, while on the job, to use and abuse drugs. If they had entered rehab, made an effort to kick the addiction that’s one thing, but Trump is an addict with no intention of stopping. I make a distinction between those who want to or attempt to kick the drugs, and Trump. As for his morbid obesity, that again is total lack of self control.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#7

Post by RVInit »

Editor Korir wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 12:01 pm Donald Trump is incontinent because he’s a decades long drug abuser. His addiction to cocaine and Adderall led to his loss of bladder and bowed control. I don’t know anyone who abused, and continues to this day, while on the job, to use and abuse drugs. If they had entered rehab, made an effort to kick the addiction that’s one thing, but Trump is an addict with no intention of stopping. I make a distinction between those who want to or attempt to kick the drugs, and Trump. As for his morbid obesity, that again is total lack of self control.
I have always been fairly slim in build, but I have had lots of friends who struggled with excess weight. There are some hereditary aspects to it, and also genetics can play into it as well. I learned over the years that obesity is not always a matter of self control.

For many of the nations poor there are even more factors involved, such as most of the food that is affordable (or easy to prepare for someone who is working two full time jobs to try to make ends meet) are not the most nutritious and low calories foods.

Yes, there are people like Trump who clearly don't have any self control and who have bizarre ideas about having a "life limit" of how much exercise the body is able to perform, but not everyone who struggles with extra weight necessarily falls into this same category, and often doesn't.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#8

Post by p0rtia »

I discovered only recently that "lookism" is a term often used to describe the discriminatory treatment of people based on looks, and is thus separate from a term like "body-shaming" which involves direct/verbal devaluation/abuse. Though obviously there are connections (I believe this ingrown societal acceptance of separate metrics contributes to the acceptance of shaming behaviors).

I'm a big fan of Ursula K LeGuin, and learned from her at a young age that to come to grips with an issue you have to name it. :heart:

This is not the world's greatest column--I was surprised to see David Brooks sort of trail off without making a point or establishing a launching pad, or even answering the question in the title--but it provides some definitions, at least. And I think there's a lot to be learned, for anyone else interested in stripping away the assumptions about how people interact and exploring what is really going on.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/opin ... -ugly.html

Why Is It OK to Be Mean to the Ugly?
The discriminatory effects of lookism are pervasive. Attractive economists are more likely to study at high-ranked graduate programs and their papers are cited more often than papers from their less attractive peers. One study found that when unattractive criminals committed a moderate misdemeanor, their fines were about four times as large as those of attractive criminals.

Daniel Hamermesh, a leading scholar in this field, observed that an American worker who is among the bottom one-seventh in looks earns about 10 to 15 percent less a year than one in the top third. An unattractive person misses out on nearly a quarter-million dollars in earnings over a lifetime.

The overall effect of these biases is vast. One 2004 study found that more people report being discriminated against because of their looks than because of their ethnicity.

In a study published in the current issue of the American Journal of Sociology, Ellis P. Monk Jr., Michael H. Esposito and Hedwig Lee report that the earnings gap between people perceived as attractive and unattractive rivals or exceeds the earnings gap between white and Black adults. They find the attractiveness curve is especially punishing for Black women. Those who meet the socially dominant criteria for beauty see an earnings boost; those who don’t earn on average just 63 cents to the dollar of those who do.
I did like this line:
My general answer is that it’s very hard to buck the core values of your culture, even when you know it’s the right thing to do.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#9

Post by RVInit »

Oh yes. I never heard that word before, but yeah, lookism is so prevalent. Thanks for sharing that, p0rtia.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#10

Post by Patagoniagirl »

Editor Korir wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:55 pm Are we not allowed to body shame Donald Trump for being morbidly obese and wearing an adult diaper🤷‍♂️
There are enough things to point to in disgust without resorting to making fun of obesity, adult diapers, etc. I also dont think it's a legitimate excuse to do that just because one thinks someone brought it on themself.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#11

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.sistersletter.com/health/10 ... tal-health
10 Sisters Shaping the Conversation About Black Women’s Mental Health
We can’t heal what we won’t reveal. Naomi, Simone, Oprah, Meghan, Dr. Joy, Taraji and others use their platforms — and their personal stories — to support emotional self-care.


Naomi Osaka, 23, world-ranked tennis player

The tennis star openly shared the mental toll the pressure to perform has taken on her in the limited Netflix series Naomi Osaka. “For so long I’ve tied winning to my worth as a person,” she said. Osaka turned her own struggles with depression and anxiety into an opportunity to advocate for other athletes when she withdrew from the French Open.

Taraji P. Henson, 50, actress

The Empire actress has acknowledged her past ignorance about mental health, including not understanding her father’s pain when he suffered from bipolar disorder and PTSD, before she dealt with her own anxiety and depression. “We don’t talk about it,” Henson said. She decided to change that and created the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, named after her father, to shift the narrative. She also shared her story in front of the Congressional Black Caucus task force at the “Mental Health in the Black Community” forum.

Latoya Johnson-Foster, 32, licensed clinical professional counselor

The author and health care pro channeled her own experiences with anxiety and depression into an opportunity to help others. Johnson-Foster’s books, I Got This! 30 Day Tips for Black Women with Anxiety or Depression and I’m Not Your Superwoman: An Interactive Guide To Understanding the Black Superwoman Syndrome, are guides on practical self-care. They include journaling prompts, affirmations and meditations to cope with life’s stresses.
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Steriotpes

#12

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“Brain implant may lift most severe depression”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58719089

“An electrical implant that sits in the skull and is wired to the brain can detect and treat severe depression, US scientists believe after promising results with a first patient.
Sarah, who is 36, had the device fitted more than a year ago and says it has turned her life around.
The matchbox-sized pack in her head is always "on" but only delivers an impulse when it senses she may need it.
The experimental study is described in Nature Medicine journal.
The researchers, from University of California, San Francisco, stress it is too soon to say if it might help other patients, like Sarah, with hard-to-treat depression, but they are hopeful and plan more trials.”
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Re: Body-shaming, Stigmatization, Devalued Stereotypes

#13

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.axios.com/2022/07/23/disney ... -inclusive
Disney changes names of "fairy godmothers" to be gender-neutral

Why it matters: It's the latest decision by Disney, which has historically stuck to a family-friendly and clean-cut image,to make its parks more inclusive.

Details: The cast members were previously called "Fairy Godmothers in training," but their names have since been changed to "Fairy Godmother’s Apprentices" on Disney's websites.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique cast members turn young children into iconic Disney princesses and knights with makeup, nail polish, hairstyles and costumes.

What they're saying: Last year, Disney Parks chairman Josh D'Amaro said he was committed to "modernizing the parks' values and changing the guidelines for how park employees look and dress."

Castmembers are now allowed to have gender-inclusive hairstyles, jewelry, nail styles, costume choices and appropriate visible tattoos.

"We believe our cast, who are at the center of the magic that lives in all our experiences, can provide the best of Disney’s legendary guest service when they have more options for personal expression – creating richer, more personal and more engaging experiences with our guests," D'Amaro said last year.

"This is just the beginning as we continue to work toward a world where we all belong – including a more diverse and inclusive Disney Parks, Experiences and Products."
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
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