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ABSTRACT
Cultural notions equating greater morality and virtue with hard work and productive output are deeply embedded in American value systems. This is exemplified in how people understand and execute personal body projects, including efforts to become slim. Bariatric surgery is commonly viewed as a ‘low-effort’ means of losing weight, and individuals who opt for this surgery are often perceived to be ‘cheating.’ This extended ethnographic study within one bariatric program in the Southwestern United States shows how patients conscientiously perform this productivity. By prioritizing discourses that focus on their own hard work and the inherent value and necessity of their surgery, patients and practitioners alike contest the dominant public views of surgically-induced weight loss.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank all of the bariatric clinic staff and patients who helped them with their research. They want to extend particular thanks to Tonya Benjamin (N.P., C.N.P.), Joyce Logvin (R.D.N.), and Lori Roust (M.D.). The authors also thank Liza Kurtz and Ashley Hagaman for assistance with transcript coding and analysis. They appreciate the support of The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, which made this research possible.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.