ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that the television makeover shows promote a very particular type of relationship to the self, namely that of entrepreneur of the self through the manipulation of the surface of the body. It discusses that such shows promulgate a corrupt notion of empowerment through subordination to a socially sanctioned superegoish structure, which can become deeply seductive in the internal world of the individual because it provides a way of managing anxiety, including the existential anxiety that has been intensified by global and virtual economies. This is because the culture of narcissism reinforced by the shows erodes a sense of community through individualizing problems and locating them in the individual body rather than addressing the wider, and often unconscious, social processes that create pain or disenfranchisement, thereby effectively removing the obligation of the state to provide for those who need mental health and social care, not appearance on reality television.
