Happy Re-birthday: Weight Loss Surgery and the `New Me'

Abstract

Weight loss surgery (WLS) is one element of the contemporary 'war on obesity'. Those who undergo surgery frequently refer to it in terms of their 're-birth'. This article considers what is signified by the discourse of re-birth, and asks what material and discursive work is required to support the identity of the post-surgical 'new me'. The article argues that rather than referring to the visibly transformed body, the discourse of re-birth signals the reconfiguration of the self as a disciplined subject who is able to exercise control and restraint over consumption. This enables those undergoing WLS to position themselves as participants in the 'war on obesity', rather than its denigrated objects. However, this identity claim is difficult to claim consistently and requires the acquisition of both familiar and novel disciplinary techniques oriented towards the normalization of the post-WLS body, and which are body enabling and constraining.