Pursuing “wellness”: considerations for media studies

O'Neill, Rachel (2020) Pursuing “wellness”: considerations for media studies. Television & New Media, 21 (6). 628 - 634. ISSN 1527-4764

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Abstract

In this short piece, I discuss the necessity of employing more-than-textual methods to understand more-than-textual phenomena. My case study is the feminized world of wellness, where stylish young entrepreneurs sell strategies of health-enhancement. While existing commentary typically frames wellness as the exclusive and somewhat risible preserve of wealthy white women—a framing enabled by the prominence of figures such as Gwyneth Paltrow—this narrative risks obscuring a more complicated story about the desire for health and well-being in an era of heightened precarity. Against this backdrop, I argue that the rise of wellness as a novel cultural formation and new commercial development must be situated within the broader social, economic, and political terrain of contemporary Britain. Methodologically, this means grappling with the glamorous trappings of wellness media and excavating the psychic investments and embodied experiences that animate this movement-market.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.sagepub.com/home/tvn
Additional Information:	© 2020 The Author
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date Deposited:	02 Sep 2021 13:39
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:38
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/111843

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