Asceticism in consumer culture: Ethical discourses in contemporary dieting practices

This paper examines the ethical underpinnings of contemporary dieting practices through a Foucauldian perspective, revealing a tension between consumer capitalism’s ethos of unrestrained consumption and the ascetic principles of moderation presupposed in diet discourse. This contradiction manifests in medical, aesthetic, and socio-cultural narratives that promote self-discipline and restraint while existing within a hedonistic consumerist framework. By analyzing major commercial diet publications and a diet website, we demonstrate how contemporary dietary methodologies echo ancient Greek and early Christian ethical frameworks, reinforcing dieting as not merely a weight-loss tool but an ethical practice of self-regulation. We argue that dieting discourses construct body fat reduction as an ethical imperative, positioning weight loss as a means of moral self-improvement. Furthermore, we trace a historical shift in diet methodologies, showing a transition from earlier authoritarian, guilt-based approaches aligned with early Christian ethics to contemporary self-improvement and moderation discourse rooted in ancient Greek ethical traditions. Applying Foucault’s concept of the ethics of self-care, we contend that dieting is not purely profit-driven but deeply tied to ethical self-fashioning. This study contributes to a critical understanding of how consumerism, body politics, and ascetic ethics intersect in modern diet culture.