Understanding the Socialized Body: A Poststructuralist Analysis of Consumers' Self-Conceptions, Body Images, and Self-Care Practices

TLDR

The study investigates how psychosocial meanings shape consumers' body image and drive related consumption behaviors. Using poststructuralist interpretive methods, the authors analyzed interviews with 30 consumers aged 6–54. The analysis produced three process‑oriented themes—self‑control ideology, normalization/problematic social processes, and the disciplinary gaze—that illustrate how body image and self‑concept are constructed in contemporary consumer culture.

Abstract

The present inquiry examines the psychosocial meanings and processes that shape consumers' sense of body image and the consumption behaviors motivated by those perceptions. Poststructuralist interpretive procedures were used to analyze interviews with 30 male and female consumers, aged 6–54. This discourse analysis led to the development of three process-orientated themes: (1) the ideology of self-control, (2) the social processes of normalization and problematization, and (3) the operation of the disciplinary gaze. The systematic manifestations of these themes are illustrated across a range of consumer experiences and body-focused perceptions. Implications of these themes for the theoretical conceptualizations of body image and the nature of self-concept in contemporary consumer culture are discussed.