Governing Bodies: American Politics and the Shaping of the Modern Physique (Politics and Culture in Modern America)

"Americans are generally apprehensive about what they perceive as big government--especially when it comes to measures that target their bodies. Soda taxes, trans fat bans, and calorie counts on menus have all proven deeply controversial. Such interventions, Rachel Louise Moran argues, are merely the latest in a long, albeit often quiet, history of policy motivated by economic, military, and familial concerns. In Governing Bodies, Moran traces the tension between the intimate terrain of the individual citizen's body and the public ways in which the federal government has sought to shape the American physique over the course of the twentieth century. Distinguishing her subject from more explicit and aggressive government intrusion into the areas of sexuality and reproduction, Moran offers the concept of the "advisory state"--The use of government research, publicity, and advocacy aimed at achieving citizen support and voluntary participation to realize social goals. Instituted through outside agencies and glossy pamphlets as well as legislation, the advisory state is government out of sight yet intimately present in the lives of citizens. The activities of such groups as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Children's Bureau, the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) implement federal body projects in subtle ways that serve to mask governmental interference in personal decisions about diet and exercise. From advice-giving to height-weight standards to mandatory nutrition education, these tactics not only empower and conceal the advisory state but also maintain the illusion of public and private boundaries, even as they become blurred in practice. Weaving together histories of the body, public policy, and social welfare, Moran analyzes a series of discrete episodes to chronicle the federal government's efforts to shape the physique of its citizenry. Governing Bodies sheds light on our present anxieties over the proper boundaries of state power."--Publisher's description

Americans are generally apprehensive about what they perceive as big government—especially when it comes to measures that target their bodies. Soda taxes, trans fat bans, and calorie counts on menus have all proven deeply controversial. Such interventions, Rachel Louise Moran argues, are merely the latest in a long, albeit often quiet, history of policy motivated by economic, military, and familial concerns. In Governing Bodies, Moran traces the tension between the intimate terrain of the individual citizen's body and the public ways in which the federal government has sought to shape the American physique over the course of the twentieth century.

Distinguishing her subject from more explicit and aggressive government intrusion into the areas of sexuality and reproduction, Moran offers the concept of the "advisory state"—the use of government research, publicity, and advocacy aimed at achieving citizen support and voluntary participation to realize social goals. Instituted through outside agencies and glossy pamphlets as well as legislation, the advisory state is government out of sight yet intimately present in the lives of citizens. The activities of such groups as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Children's Bureau, the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) implement federal body projects in subtle ways that serve to mask governmental interference in personal decisions about diet and exercise. From advice-giving to height-weight standards to mandatory nutrition education, these tactics not only empower and conceal the advisory state but also maintain the illusion of public and private boundaries, even as they become blurred in practice.

Weaving together histories of the body, public policy, and social welfare, Moran analyzes a series of discrete episodes to chronicle the federal government's efforts to shape the physique of its citizenry. Governing Bodies sheds light on our present anxieties over the proper boundaries of state power.

Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Introduction. Weight of the Nation......Page 10 Chapter 1. The Advisory State World War I Made: Scientific Nutrition and Scientific Mothering......Page 19 Chapter 2. Boys into Men: Depression-Era Physique in the Civilian Conservation Corps......Page 47 Chapter 3. Men into Soldiers: World War II and the Conscripted Body......Page 73 Chapter 4. Selling Postwar Fitness: Advertising, Education, and the President's Council......Page 93 Chapter 5. Wasted Bodies: Emaciation and the War on Poverty......Page 121 Chapter 6. Poor Choices: Weight, Welfare, and WIC in the 1970s......Page 141 Conclusion. Governing American Bodies......Page 164 Notes......Page 170 B......Page 216 E......Page 217 J......Page 218 O......Page 219 R......Page 220 W......Page 221 Y......Page 222 Acknowledgments......Page 224 Cover 1 Contents 8 Introduction. Weight of the Nation 10 Chapter 1. The Advisory State World War I Made: Scientific Nutrition and Scientific Mothering 19 Chapter 2. Boys into Men: Depression-Era Physique in the Civilian Conservation Corps 47 Chapter 3. Men into Soldiers: World War II and the Conscripted Body 73 Chapter 4. Selling Postwar Fitness: Advertising, Education, and the President's Council 93 Chapter 5. Wasted Bodies: Emaciation and the War on Poverty 121 Chapter 6. Poor Choices: Weight, Welfare, and WIC in the 1970s 141 Conclusion. Governing American Bodies 164 Notes 170 Index 216 A 216 B 216 C 217 D 217 E 217 F 218 G 218 H 218 I 218 J 218 K 219 L 219 M 219 N 219 O 219 P 220 Q 220 R 220 S 221 T 221 U 221 V 221 W 221 Y 222 Acknowledgments 224 Weaving Together Histories Of The Body, Public Policy, And Social Welfare, Rachel Louise Moran Analyzes A Series Of Discrete Episodes Over The Course Of The Twentieth Century To Chronicle The Federal Government's Efforts To Shape The Physique Of Its Citizenry.