Body Cult in Contemporary Societies: Sport, Self-image and Health

Abstract

More and more citizens of contemporary societies worry about being healthy, one’s self- image or keeping in good shape. The aim of this chapter is to study the factors which underpin current human practices under the banner of ‘body worshipping’. In the first section we posit that the ‘cult of the body’ could be understood as a set of social practices rooted in production and consumer society. This is analysed in the second section from the perspectives of Postmodern and Post-Fordist societies’ theories. In the third section, a well-known Spanish television programme is used as a springboard to reflect on the different manifestations of body worshipping present in contemporary societies. Finally, the last section offers some thoughts about some of the consequences of the body cult, such as the diversification of sport practices or the tension between the commodified aesthetic standard of what a perfect body should look like versus the growing obese population. The section closes by looking at some examples of state intervention in health promoting policies.