Wellness is often co-opted by diet culture. Here is how to reclaim it.
To deconstruct this paradox, we draw on two intersecting theoretical traditions.
First, Robert Crawford’s (1980) concept of “Healthism” describes the tendency to define health as a super-moral, individual responsibility, obscuring environmental and economic determinants. In the wellness context, healthism transforms health from a state of being into a never-ending performance of virtue. Second, Michel Foucault’s biopolitics—the power of states and markets to regulate populations through bodily norms—provides a lens to see how wellness replaces overt fat-shaming with “care of the self.” As Rose (2007) notes, advanced liberalism governs through “technologies of the self” that compel individuals to voluntarily monitor, measure, and perfect their bodies. paulas birthday holy nature nudistspart122 link
Body positivity, when stripped of its fat-activist origins (which demanded healthcare access, anti-discrimination laws, and ending diet culture), becomes a malleable signifier. It no longer says “Your body is acceptable as it is” but rather “You are responsible for making your body acceptable through the right lifestyle choices.”
It would be dishonest to write about body positivity and wellness without addressing the elephant in the room: the healthcare system. Wellness is often co-opted by diet culture
Many doctors still use BMI—a racist, unscientific, 19th-century metric—as a primary health indicator. Patients in larger bodies are routinely told to lose weight for conditions ranging from a broken ankle to depression. This leads to "healthcare avoidance," where people skip checkups to avoid being shamed.
A body-positive wellness lifestyle requires self-advocacy. Seek out Health at Every Size (HAES) aligned providers. These practitioners focus on health behaviors (blood pressure, blood sugar, mobility, mental health) rather than weight. They order tests. They listen. They treat symptoms, not size. Body positivity, when stripped of its fat-activist origins
You have the right to medical care that respects your dignity, regardless of your shape.