The best diet is a living hell: internet users and TV spectators share accounts of humiliation, suffering and overcoming toward the accomplishment of weight loss and self-esteem (original) (raw)

This work proposes an analysis on the contemporary relations between body, visibility, and processes of subjectivation emerging from the narratives of suffering and overcoming of Globo TV show Bem Estar (Wellbeing) spectators, who are urged to share their stories of weight loss and improved self-esteem online at G1. We have observed that dramatic and embarrassing situations experienced by the spectators during obesity, as well as their painful struggle to follow the advice of the show's experts to lose weight, are especially emphasized. A triad composed of specialized knowledge (doctors, experts), the power of personal experience (of obese individuals), and journalists, whose mediation outlines a specific frame meant both to provoke and attract the audience.