Young Adults “Doing Health” as Self-Activation

• In Event: 20820 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 8. The Life Course and Health I

Abstract

This longitudinal ethnographic study takes mental health seriously as a social problem in America and a site of unprecedented preoccupation for young adults. As they come of age, contemporary young adults are insisting on health as a site of agency as well as a marker of maturity and success. While we commonly hear about young adults with damaged spirits hiding behind their phones, this paper is also about how young adults “do health” in the form of small acts of agency, including making space for oneself, questioning social media, and taking responsibility for one’s health. I use the language of “doing health,” in a nod to West and Zimmermans’ theory of “doing gender” and West and Fenstermakers’ concept of “doing difference,” to honor how omnipresent the health arena has become in diverse American young adult lives, especially when it comes to self-care and self-activation.

Author

• Meika E. Loe, Colgate University