Groven Karen Synne, Engelsrud Gunn
Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Institute of Physiotherapy, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
Med Health Care Philos. 2016 Sep;19(3):361-70. doi: 10.1007/s11019-015-9677-y.
In this study we explore how a selection of Norwegian women account for their decision to undergo weight loss surgery (WLS). We argue that women's descriptions of their experiences leading up to this choice of action illuminate issues regarding social norms of bodily appearance and personal responsibility. The starting point is women's own experiences within a cultural context in which opting for WLS often attracts moral scrutiny. Inspired by Merleau-Ponty's notion of consciousness as embodied and de Beauvoir's ideas concerning women's situation, we argue that bodily as well as socio-cultural aspects intertwine with women's choice of surgery as a means of losing weight. Although society's stigmatization of women with obesity has been well challenged by scholars in the field of critical fat studies, women with obesity still experience the bodily hindrances associated with being overweight in an intense and subjective way. The findings suggest that women confronting the option of WLS do so in a context of pain, dysfunction and social stigma, a combination which illuminates the intricate ambiguity of the obese body as both subject (of agency) and object (of moral and medical scrutiny).
在本研究中，我们探讨了一些挪威女性如何解释她们决定接受减肥手术（WLS）的原因。我们认为，女性对导致这一行动选择的经历的描述，揭示了有关身体外貌的社会规范和个人责任的问题。出发点是女性在一种文化背景下的自身经历，在这种文化背景中，选择接受减肥手术往往会受到道德审视。受梅洛 - 庞蒂关于具身意识的概念以及西蒙娜·德·波伏娃关于女性处境的思想启发，我们认为身体以及社会文化方面与女性选择手术作为减肥手段相互交织。尽管在批判性肥胖研究领域，学者们对社会对肥胖女性的污名化提出了有力挑战，但肥胖女性仍然强烈且主观地体验到与超重相关的身体障碍。研究结果表明，面临减肥手术选择的女性是在痛苦、功能障碍和社会污名的背景下做出这一决定的，这种组合揭示了肥胖身体作为主体（行动者）和客体（道德及医学审视对象）的复杂模糊性。
