Body Theories, Practices and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Body Theories, Practices and Culture - Essay ExampleThese enhancements have little to do with individual health. In Western cultures, body enhancement is used to strengthen individual image and personal market big businessman and celebrate the ability to achieve a repair locate in the consumer society. Enhancing yourselfHumans are social beings, and society causes mysterious effects on the individual perceptions of self. The mass culture of consumerism, mass media and changing social norms impose sore requirements on society members. Different cultures foster different norms of self-enhancement and wellbeing. In the Western society, slender tanned bodies take as vehicles of marketable self, the drivers of seduction, and the instruments of achieving a strong competitive advantage (Featherstone 1991). When I decided that I cute to get rid of a few kilos, I did not realize the underlying meaning of self-enhancement practices. hotshot day, I looked into the mirror and felt that t he picture in the mirror differed greatly from what I wanted to see. I thought that getting rid of a few kilograms and making my body tanned would give me a sense of huge personal satisfaction. I was never afraid of challenges moreover, I always sought to master challenging missions. I thought that body enhancement through exercise and tanning would improve my physiologic appearance. I also felt that self-enhancement would strengthen my confidence that I was able to achieve a better result, keep myself fit, and control my appetite. This being said, I went to a physical fitness club and, three months later, I could not recognize myself. Tanned, slim, and fit, I looked several years younger. Friends and relatives would look surprised and envious at how I looked. Undoubtedly, the dodge I used to enhance my body was more than an instrument of physical improvement. It was just a diminutive element of the broader cultural movement, where individuals use their physical attributes to ma rket themselves and acquire a better social position/ status. Understanding self-enhancement For the purpose of this analysis, the concept of self-enhancement should be defined and analyzed. Since the concept of enhancement is difficult to define, it is easier to see what enhancement is not. Enhancement is not used to treat physical illnesses (DeGrazia 2005). It would be fair to assume that enhancement is a kind of intervention used to improve human form or functioning beyond what is requirement to sustain and restore good health (DeGrazia 2005, p.263). Simply stated, enhancement is never a response to checkup exam ineluctably it is an instrument of enhancing individual abilities and physical form in the absence of clear medical needs (DeGrazia 2005). My decision to enhance the body had nothing to do with my physiological health. I felt perfect what I needed was to fit in societys body expectations. I wanted to exceed those expectations. I wanted to celebrate the cult of the hum an body. I wanted to make a positive balance and look better than the majority of my friends and peers. I know that body enhancement strategies like training and fitness are considered natural, positive, and virtuous (DeGrazia 2005). Fitness is the model of self-enhancement which, in most cases, lacks artificiality and is rarely condemned by society (DeGrazia 2005). Thus, self-enhancement lacks medical focus, provides a sense of self-satisfaction, and creates a positive image and public perception of