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ERIC Number: EJ816113
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Nov
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1357-3322
EISSN: N/A
Healthy Bodies: Construction of the Body and Health in Physical Education
Webb, Louisa; Quennerstedt, Mikael; Ohman, Marie
Sport, Education and Society, v13 n4 p353-372 Nov 2008
In physical education, bodies are not only moved but made. There are perceived expectations for bodies in physical education to be "healthy bodies"--for teachers to be "appropriate" physical, fit, healthy and skillful "role models" and for students to display a slim body that is equated with fitness and health. In teachers' monitoring of students with the intention of regulating health behavior, however, the surveillance of students' bodies and associated assumptions about health practices are implicated in the (re)production of the "cult of the body". In this paper, we consider issues of embodiment and power in a subject area where the visual and active body is central and we use data from Australian and Swedish schools to analyze the discourses of health and embodiment in physical education. In both Swedish and Australian physical education there were discourses related to a fit healthy body and an at risk healthy body. These discourses also acted through a range of techniques of power, particularly regulation and normalization.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia; Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A