Health, aesthetics, and efficiency: relationships between women’s eating practices and their bodies

Abstract

Research on food and body in the consumer society presents an increasing interest from academics in various fields. The aim of this paper is to understand the relationships between women’s food consumption practices and their bodies. The authors use the perspective of the Theory of Practice to access the components of food consumption practices. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty female informants, residents of the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, who said that their bodies were central in food consumption practices. These practices are regulated by rules that take into account the distinction between nourishment, needed for surviving, and eating, a pleasure action, and women’s strategies in combining short-term (pleasure) and long-term (body) goals. Food consumption involves commitments to health, associated with clinical aspects of food and body maintenance; aesthetics, which present the food as a way of molding the body within patterns of beauty; and efficiency, which orient eating towards the professional performance of the woman’s body.

Keywords:
Food Consumption; Body; Practice Theory