Abstract

ARAUJO, Lidiane Silva et al. Prejudice towards obesity: social representations in printed media. Arq. bras. psicol. [online]. 2018, vol.70, n.1, pp.69-85. ISSN 1809-5267.

The aim was to apprehend the social representations (SR) of prejudice towards people with obesity, produced in printed media. A documental research was conducted, which analyzed 21 articles published in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. Data was analyzed using standard analysis in Alceste, and the corpus was structured in seven themes. A diffusion of SR of obesity as a disease under strong dominance of medical sciences was verified, justifying the large cover given by the media to specialists and to the medicalization of the issue. The articles reported the tendency to blatant prejudice and discrimination towards overweight people, especially in the working context, which demands, mostly from women, high investments in the attempt to adjust their bodies to the ideal standards. Besides the esthetic reasons, interestingly, the prejudice presented medical justification. The findings highlight the need to promote politics of inclusion and research about this theme.

Keywords : Obesity; Prejudice; Social representations; Printed media.

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