‘You don't have to be black skinned to be black’: Indigenous young people's bodily practices

Abstract

In contemporary Western societies, disciplinary and normalising technologies function to create a sense of moral obligation within each individual to monitor and regulate the body in terms of health, including diet and exercise. The settler/Aboriginal experience in Australia provides an example of the ways in which biopolitics has operated at a population level for all Australians and in specific ways for Indigenous bodies. This study sought to explore the perceptions of a group of urban Indigenous young people regarding their views of their bodies in the context of health and physical activity. Using the lens of biopolitics, complemented by post-colonial theory, this paper will draw attention to the ways in which historical and current discourses around Indigenous health might illustrate biopolitical technologies of power whilst also highlighting the ways in which Indigenous young people have navigated both disciplinary and normalising regimes. Fourteen participants (six male and eight female) were interviewed seven times over two and a half years using mapping, photos and drawing as stimuli. Data were analysed both thematically and through a process of discourse analysis with a view to explore the ways in which participants negotiated discursive constructions of the body, particularly notions of self-governance. It appeared that the young people engaged with, were ambivalent to, contested and resisted discourses around ‘proper’ bodily appearance, the obligation to ‘work’ on their bodies, their perceptions of an ideal body, their negotiation of an authentic ‘black’ body and the ways in which they used their bodies to perform or achieve. The voices of the young people illustrate these themes. This research contributes significantly to the modest body of physical education and health literature from the perspectives of Indigenous young people. It raises questions about the impact of normalising discourses on Indigenous young people and in particular the ways in which those who resist them might be positioned.

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