On some vicissitudes of the notion of health in consumer society

Abstract

This essay constitutes a reflection on some of the paradoxes involved in the notion of health in a consumer society. The text attempts to flesh out some of the points of tension that, through analysis, can be found in discourses on physical ability and health in the area of Physical Education, as well as within the idea of choice as it is used in relation to market-manufactured needs. Within this context, Physical Education becomes a new counselor that claims to guarantee, in these times of uncertainties and wagers, the acquisition of an appropriate and healthy body. This process has only been made possible through the linking of Biomedicine - as a scientific and bio-political register - and Physical Education.