Ethno-essentialisms of the self: A critique of the cultural scripting of obesity in Japan.

In challenging the 'validity' of the body mass index (BMI), the construct of metabolic syndrome has been used to comprehend how obesity affects Japanese people. This article is grounded in an adaptation of the 'sexual scripting theory' (Gagnon and Simon, 2005) and proposes the concept of 'ethno-essentialisms of the self' to explore the cultural scripts underpinning the development of metabolic syndrome. Ethno-essentialisms of the self indicate a dialectical relationship between a Japanese healthy self and a non-Japanese unhealthy Other, where ethno-racial susceptibilities might make a Japanese self prone to develop metabolic-related diseases. Despite these susceptibilities, Japanese 'biopedagogy' (Wright, 2009) to control bodyweight is oriented by a proper daily calculation of food consumption in relation to calorie-burning. Biopedagogy in the form of food and nutrition education has largely translated into unyielding efforts to (re)traditionalise eating habits to prevent the supposed Westernisation of Japanese food. Overall, medical knowledge serves to propagate ethno-essentialisms of the self, whose unintended consequence could be 'clinical iatrogenic disease' (Illich, 1976).