ABSTRACT
The signifi cance of the body as a site of social and political appropriation has long been recognized by feminist writers (e.g., Battersby 1998; Bordo 1990, 1993; Grosz 1994; Wray 2007). Culturally specifi c rules and taboos appropriate women’s bodies in different ways and infl uence what women prioritize in relation to the health and appearance of their bodies (YoungOdoms 2008; Vom Bruck 1997). This chapter examines how British white health promoters and their ethnically diverse participants perceive the health promotion that takes place in exercise classes. Additionally, it explores the extent to which western-centric health promotion discourses subjugate and marginalize those alternative forms of knowledge that deviate from western health science regimes of ‘truth’ (Foucault 1977). One potential consequence of this is a reinforcement of individual responsibility for health that currently dominates public health in the U.K. Another is that structural and material causes of ill health, such as poverty, sexism and racism, tend to be underplayed (Nazroo 1998; Wray 2002).
