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Young Chinese Australians'subjectivities of ‘health’ and‘(un)healthy bodies’Bonnie Panga, Laura Alfreyb & Valeria Vareac

a School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney,Penrith, NSW, Australiab Faculty of Education, Monash University (Peninsula Campus),Melbourne, VIC, Australiac School of Education, University of New England, Armidale, NSW,AustraliaPublished online: 02 Jan 2015.

To cite this article: Bonnie Pang, Laura Alfrey & Valeria Varea (2015): Young Chinese Australians'subjectivities of ‘health’ and ‘(un)healthy bodies’, Sport, Education and Society, DOI:10.1080/13573322.2014.993959

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Young Chinese Australians’subjectivities of ‘health’ and‘(un)healthy bodies’Bonnie Panga*, Laura Alfreyb and Valeria VareacaSchool of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW, Australia;bFaculty of Education, Monash University (Peninsula Campus), Melbourne, VIC,Australia; cSchool of Education, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

Young people with English as an Additional Language/Dialect backgrounds are oftenidentified in public health messages and popular media as ‘bodies at risk’ becausethey do not conform to the health regimens of contemporary Western societies. Withincreasing numbers of Chinese students in Australian schools, it is necessary toadvance teachers’ understandings of the ways in which these young people negotiatenotions of ‘health’ and ‘(un)healthy bodies’. This paper explores the ways in whichyoung Chinese Australians’ understand health and (un)healthy bodies. The dataupon which this paper focuses were drawn from a larger scale study underpinned bycritical, interpretive, ethnographic methods. The participants in this study were 12young Chinese Australians, aged 10–15 years, from two schools. Photographs of avariety of bodies were sourced from popular magazines and used as a means ofinterview elicitation. The young people were invited to comment on the photographsand discuss what ‘health’ and the notion of a ‘(un)healthy body’ meant to them.Foucault’s concepts of discursive practice and normalisation are used alongsideChinese concepts of holistic paradigms and Wen–Wu to unpack the young people’ssubjectivities on health and (un)healthy bodies. The findings invite us to movebeyond Western subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies and highlight themultidimensional and diverse perspectives espoused by some of the young ChineseAustralians in this study. The research findings can inform future policy and practicerelevant to the exploration of health and (un)healthy bodies in health and physicaleducation and health and physical education teacher education.

Keywords: Wen-Wu; Young Chinese Australians; Foucault; Health; (un)HealthyBodies; Subjectivities

Introduction

While it is commonly acknowledged in public health policies that health is multi-dimensional (World Health Organization, 1948), public pedagogies disseminated

*Corresponding author. School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia. Email: b.pang@uws.edu.au

© 2014 Taylor & Francis

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through popular media tend to adopt a more reductionist perspective. That is to say, itis often assumed that individual health status is largely a result of individual choice(Macdonald, Abbott, & Jenkins, 2012). A milieu of health discourses, includinghealthism (Crawford, 1980), contribute towards a (re)production of pervasivepedagogical messages that present health as synonymous with a slender body achievedthrough regimented exercise and food intake. Such discourses also reinforceconstructions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bodies, the former being valued in Western societieswith the latter often marginalised (Atencio, 2010; Burrows & Wright, 2007). In thisdiscursive context, those who discipline themselves to become fit and healthy arepositioned as the ‘norm’, whereas those who do not conform to theseWestern ideals ofneoliberal rationalities of healthy citizenship (Crawford, 1980) are ‘othered’ andlabelled as ‘bodies at risk’ (Burrows &Wright, 2004; Crawford, 1980; Gard &Wright,2001; Lupton, 1999; Shea & Beausoleil, 2012). Research suggests that ChineseAustralians are often othered and positioned as physically inactive and thereforeunhealthy (Booth,Okely, Chey, Bauman, &Macaskill, 2002;NSWMinistry ofHealth,2010).While educational policies promulgate cultural diversity and ‘Asia engagement’in schools (Australian CurriculumAssessment and Reporting Authority, 2014), youngChinese Australian students are often viewed from a ‘deficit’ rather than ‘asset’perspective.An increasing amount of sociocultural research asserts that healthism is dominant

in shaping young peoples’ subjectivities and practices in relation to health (Wright,O’Flynn, & Macdonald, 2006) and inadvertently promotes unhealthy body practices(Evans, Rich, & Holroyd, 2004; O’Dea, 2005; Rich, Holroyd, & Evans, 2004). Bodyappearances and performances such as Whiteness (Azzarito, 2009), slenderness(Azzarito, 2010; Garrett, 2004; Oliver, 2001; Tinning & Glasby, 2002), muscularity(Azzarito & Solmon, 2006; Lee, Macdonald, & Wright, 2009) and ability (Hay &Macdonald, 2010) are often valued in contemporary Western physical cultures.Arguably, these dominant subjectivities of an ideal body (Burrows & Wright, 2004;Wright et al., 2006) have overlooked alternative perspectives on (un)healthy bodiesthat could be relevant to young people from English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D) backgrounds. The voices of young Chinese Australians areunderrepresented in existing health research (Shea & Beausoleil, 2012) and thispaper thus aims to explore young Chinese Australians subjectivities of health and(un)healthy bodies.

Subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies: the ‘East’ and the ‘West’

The ‘East’ has traditionally been considered to be the negation of the ‘West’ in termsof science, civilisation and rationality. Quoting Balfour and Cromer in Orientalism,Said (2003) draws on a postcolonial perspective and notes that, ‘the Oriental isirrational, depraved (fallen), childlike, “different”; thus the European is rational,virtuous, mature, “normal”’ (p. 40). Said further suggests that, ‘the sense of Westernpower over the Orient is taken for granted as having the status of scientific truth’(p. 46). According to Larsson (2012), medical and scientific research continues to be

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the primary focus in health and physical education (HPE) in Western countries.There is a historically rooted discursive tradition of focusing on measurements,classification, ability, fitness, validity and reliability with often a disregard for theinteractions between the mind and the body (Daisie, 1971; Marleen, 1999). Tinningand Glasby (2002) do remind us, however, that not all contemporary interest inhealth is dominated by the Western medical paradigm, and there are alternativeforms of understanding health and (un)healthy bodies (Lee & Macdonald, 2010).The traditional Chinese world view, for example, offers a holistic paradigm

through which we can understand the connection between body and mind. The keynotions in Chinese philosophy are (1) the pursuit of one’s virtue through self-cultivation and (2) the practice of balance through holism (e.g. ‘the unity of body andmind, the exterior and in the interior’) (Tang, 2007, p. 38). This paradigm originatesfrom the system of Yin and Yang during the Neo-Confucianism period, whichrepresent two distinct principles that are relative to each other, yet both receive equalstatus and are complementary in existence (Kim, 1973). This traditional Chinesesystem of thought has significantly influenced various cultural practices. Forexample, principles that underpin Chinese medical, health and physical activitydiscourses include, ‘blood circulation, Qi and meridians’. Health is maintained andacquired through balancing the two complementary entities of blood and Qi (i.e. lifeenergy) (Torsch & Ma, 2000). Traditional Chinese physical activities such as Tai Chiand Qi Gong are aligned with the fundamental view of Chinese cultural reality,which is the restoration of balance within the body during sickness and valuingsoftness and gentleness when overcoming toughness and aggressiveness(Kim, 1973).Similarly, Louie (2002) discusses the Wen–Wu paradigm that originates from the

Yin–Yang system and is useful in explaining the conceptualisation of Chinese maleand female body practices in contemporary culture. Wen includes qualities such asscholarly, mental and literary, and Wu includes qualities such as martial arts,physical skills and power. Louie and Edwards (1994, p. 138) explain that theWestern paradigm of masculinity is inappropriate for understanding the Chinesemale (sic.) as an ideal person who is expected to embody a balance of Wen and Wu:

The application of the contemporary Western notion of this ‘macho man’ whosepower is made manifest in brute physical strength and unerring silence, to theChinese case is largely inappropriate, because while there is a macho tradition inChina it is not the predominant one.

This Wen–Wu paradigm was traditionally used to understand an ideal man (sic.)in China. However, with globalisation and the hybridisation of identities, Louieasserts that an ideal person, regardless of one’s sex, is one who has both Wen and Wuqualities. This Wen–Wu concept could be applied to understanding both men andwomen in contemporary health and body practices. However, as demonstrated bypublic health discourses in the West, the qualities of Wu (e.g. physical skills andpower) have often been prized over those in Wen (e.g. mental skills and literacy).The Chinese values and the related health discourses emphasise the balance and

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connection of the mind and body, the Yin and Yang, and the Wen and Wu. Thissuggests that the Chinese values and practices are in some ways contrasting to theWestern focus on ‘good’ healthy bodies that are almost detached from a mind orsoul, as per the Cartesian dualism.

Foucault’s discursive practice and normalisation

For Foucault, discourse plays an important role in (re)producing subjectivities andknowledge, as it embodies meanings and social relationships. Discourses are‘practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak’ (Foucault,1972, p. 49). Health discourses are embodied by those who engage with them. As aperson engages with health discourses, they become a subject to particular positions:this is what Foucault terms as ‘discursive practice’ and ‘subject position’. Foucaultpurports that each society or culture has its own regimens of truth and thatdiscourses are an instrument of power that transmit societal/cultural valuesconsidered to be ‘true’ (Foucault, 1981). In the context of health and HPE,healthism is often taken as the regimen of truth in contemporary Western society.From a Foucauldian perspective, normalisation is a contemporary form of

disciplinary power, which imposes homogeneity rather than direct repression. It is‘a mode of observation, ordering, intervention, and control that simultaneouslyhomogenises and individualises its target population’ (McWhorter, 1999, p. 156).Surveillance is one mechanism through which normalisation is enacted, with theintention to ‘manage subjects in practicing “the norm”’. In the HPE context, forexample, normalisation and surveillance are enacted through physical performancetests with the view of encouraging young people to achieve a standardised, ‘normal’body. Foucault asserts that ‘the norm’ does not refer to ‘a tradition’, but rathermakes reference to routinised behaviours that are so deeply inscribed in the body bydisciplinary modes of power that they just seem natural or normal (McNay, 1994).As a consequence, normalisation is a powerful instrument for people to conform toan ideal body and narrow meanings of health (Foucault, 1979). While conforming tothe ‘norm’ is not necessarily problematic, O’Dea (2005) reminds us that this ‘norm’of a slim and fit body has created damaging effects on young people’s health (e.g.starvation, cigarette smoking to suppress appetite, stigmatising fat children, andbeing overly sensitive to one’s weight and body appearance).Although young people have rights as citizens (McCarthy, Giardina, Harewood, &

Park, 2005; Wright et al., 2006; Wyn & White, 1997), they often have little power toinfluence a school curriculum or other policies that can impact their health and bodypractices. In particular, young people from EAL/D backgrounds are often positionedas ‘at risk’ and ‘disadvantaged’ due to their ‘differences’ in values and practices(Lupton, 1999). We argue that current research has undermined young ChineseAustralians’ voices and, hence, alternative ways of understanding (un)healthy bodiesmay have been silenced. According to Foucault (1981), this silencing has created a‘shelter for power’ in ‘docile bodies’ that have helped to reproduce the culturaldominance of one normal, ideal body in the West. Before exploring how the young

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people in this research understood health and a (un)healthy body, the methods thatwere used to collect and analyse the data are outlined.

Methods

The participants in this study were 12 young Chinese Australians, aged 10–15 years,from two schools (seven girls from an independent girls’ school [Sage College] andthree girls and two boys from a government school [Routledge State High]). Theircountries of birth included Australia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. They had livedin Australia for between 4 and 10 years. Routledge State High was a state-owned,secular, coeducational secondary school located in an inner-city suburb. Sage Collegewas an independent, non-denominational, high fee–paying girls’ school located on theedge of the central business district. A total of ten girls from both schools and two boysfrom Routledge State High chose to participate in the study. Chinese young peopleliving in Australia have been paid little attention in existing research and it is for thisreason that they are focused on in this research. Purposive sampling was used to selectthe two schools, as research showed that the social and cultural factors such asgeographical locations, gender structure, likelihood of gaining access and varied socio-economic status have an impact on young people’s physical activity opportunities andpractices (O’Flynn, 2010; Wright & Macdonald, 2010). Ethical clearance was gainedthrough the University and participating school principals, teachers, students andtheir parents. Pseudonyms have been used throughout to ensure anonymity.The data in this paper were taken from interviews sets that took place as part of a

larger scale study which was underpinned by a critical and interpretive, ethnographicmethod (Pang, 2013). Photographs of a variety of bodies were sourced from popularmagazines and used as a means of interview elicitation (Thomson, 2008). The youngpeople were invited to comment on the photographs and talk about what ‘health’ andthe notion of a ‘(un)healthy body’ meant to them. Questions relevant to this paperthat were asked in the interviews included: ‘What does health mean to you?’, and‘Can you talk about the bodies in the magazine cuttings?’. This participatoryinterview method has been shown to be an effective research tool within the researchprocess to build trust, reduce power imbalances, support the engagement ofparticipants, prompt deeper reflections and discussion within the interview processand empower participants’ voices (Pain, 2012). The magazine cuttings werecollected by the first author and taken from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China andAustralia (Figure 1).The interviews were conducted by the first author, a Hong Kong-born female, and

were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. All data were entered andcoded using NVivo 8. To identify themes from the interview transcripts, inductivecontent analysis was employed (Patton, 2002), using first- and second-cycle codingmethods (Saldaña, 2009). Apart from reading and coding the data from eachinterview manually, the function of ‘queries’ was often used to identify the excerptsrelevant for the categories (e.g. ‘health’ or ‘bodies’). This was to ensure that therelevant data were read and coded thoroughly. Finally, in drawing on relevant

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theoretical concepts that emerged from the literature review process, a finalclassification process was carried out, resulting in the identification and presentationof the themes in this paper.

Figure 1. Magazine cuttings on bodies taken from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Australia

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Following Foucault’s concept of ‘subject position’ (Foucault, 1969), the firstposition was coded as the ‘norm’, and it referred to how young Chinese Australianstalked about what the term ‘(un)healthy bodies’ meant to them. Interview dataresonated with the ‘cult of slenderness’ (Tinning, 2010) of fit and slim bodies, andfairer skin tones and tallness that are valued in Chinese culture (Pang, Macdonald, &Hay, 2013). The second position, ‘opposition’, represented discourses that arecounter to traditional Western health discourses such as healthism. According toFoucault (1977), counter discourses stand in opposition to disciplinary powerseeking to normalise people’s behaviour. In this instance, those adopting theopposition position would discuss health as being beyond the physical, problematisedthe ways in which popular media presents ‘(un)healthy bodies’ and challenged thedominant health discourses, which tend to reflect a cult of slenderness (Tinning,2010). This position drew upon young Chinese Australians’ voices to provide analternative perspective on typical Western subjectivities of health and (un)healthybodies.

Findings and discussion

While we risk presenting a false dichotomy and acknowledge that not all participantscan be so easily categorised, the findings are presented in accordance with the twoaforementioned discourse positions, the ‘norm’ and the ‘opposition’. As previouslyalluded, the norm refers to typical Western subjectivities of health, with discoursessuch as healthism prevailing strongly. The opposition includes alternative perspec-tives on typical subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies in the West. Some ofthe young people who participated in the research were positioned at the ‘norm’ endof the continuum (n = 8) and discussed health and (un)healthy bodies in ways thatresonated with discourses that are evident in both the West and the East. Otherparticipants were positioned at the ‘opposition’ end of the continuum (n = 7) andthey tended to understand health in more diverse and complex ways and oftenchallenged the dominant discourses related to health and (un)healthy bodies. Threeof these young people demonstrated more than one position code and oscillatedbetween the two ends of the continuum. The complexity and contradiction thatcharacterised this aspect of the findings is unpacked in the conclusion.

The ‘Norm’

As noted above, in this instance the ‘norm’ refers to typical Western subjectivities ofhealth and healthy bodies. Eight of the 12 young Chinese Australians associated‘good’ health with regimented dietary and physical activity practice. The youngpeople associated an ideal female body as slim and fit with fairer skin tone, while anideal male body was viewed as muscular with tanned skin tone.Almost half of these young girls concluded that they were ‘not healthy enough’ as

they did not eat enough vegetables and fruits and ate too much ‘junk food’.Catherine, for example, discussed the ways in which she classified her health as

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‘really bad’ and that her weight could be more ‘balanced’, as she clearly referencedthe body mass index (BMI) standards:

Catherine (14 years old, born in China): Yeah, I think I can lose a little bit of weightand it (her weight) could be more balanced. I tested my BMI, my body mass index,and I’m like 27, which is really bad, well it’s not really bad, but it’s kind of badbecause you know healthy is between 18 to 20 or something like that … well,healthy is, first of all your Body Mass Index should be in the healthy section, and inthe suitable section, and you should be eating pretty well, which I’m not, like eating2 servings of fruits and 5 serves of vegetables, or something like that. And a lot offibre and stuff, and good fats and stuff like that. (Interview 4, Sage College)

On the surface, Catherine’s talk of ‘balanced’ seemed to resemble the concept of‘Chong Yung’, the middle-way philosophy that is valued in Chinese culture (Peng &Nisbett, 1999). This means that harmony could be achieved by balancing betweentwo paradoxical tendencies (Chen, 2002), such as a balance between the mind andthe body. However, her talk actually resonated strongly with public health policy andrelated discourses that are based on ‘risk identification’ and constant monitoring ofinputs (diet) and outputs (physical activity) (Tinning & Glasby, 2002).Ted’s comments showed a dichotomised understanding of health, where one is

viewed as ‘healthy’ or ‘not healthy’, and health status was judged solely on theamount of physical activity and dietary intake. The results pointed to the tendency tounderstand health in limited and dichotomised ways. Ted cited ‘television pro-grammes’ as sites of learning about health, and he clearly identified the ways in whichthey are used to promote healthy practices. This indicated that the media hasperpetuated discourses such as healthism which have thus served to build a commonconsciousness among these young people:

Ted (15 years old, born in Taiwan): Healthy is lots of physical activity and goodfood.… As in thirty minutes of physical activity every day.

Interviewer (I): Where did you get this information from?

T: From TV, where there is the ad ‘Find your 30 today’ … well, um, I think I’mpretty healthy as I eat healthy food, but I probably don’t do a lot of exercise, so Imight not be healthy.

I: Can you think of anything else about health?

T: No, I guess that’s all. (Interview 1, Routledge State High)

More than half of these young people explained that height is a very importantindicator of health within the Chinese culture. This resonated with the Chineseconcept of ‘gāo rén yī děng’, which explained the positive association of tallness,success and social distinction. The results corresponded to Chinese migrant families’aspirations in social mobility as a minority in Australia (Pang et al., 2013):

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Sean (13 years old, born in Australia): Yes, an ideal body is just not fat, not tooskinny, just average body, a bit taller is better. I think it’s a Chinese thing, I’m about1.65–1.67.… It makes you look bigger and better and that looks good and healthy.(Interview 4, Routledge State High)

As alluded earlier, the young people’s subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodieswere characterised by gendered ideals in relation to skin tones. The young people inthis study related fairer skin tone to beauty in females and tanned skin tone to healthin males. This was evidenced by XiXi as she talked about Asians looking better infairer skin tones. This compared to racial distinction that was common in otherethnic groups (Kenway & Bullen, 2011):

XiXi (13 years old, born in China): I think guys don’t need to have fairer skins asgals do, guys can have tanned skin.… I just think tanned only look better on somepeople. Some Europeans, they look better in tanned, but for Asians, I think fairerskin looks better. (Interview 4, Sage College)

Sean: Well, I like it. I’m not too pale, I’m not too dark, and it’s like a tan. Tannedmakes you feel healthier and more muscular which is good. (Interview 4, RoutledgeState High)

The data indicated that some of the female participants felt pressurised to look thinand therefore, in their view, healthy. Jane, for example, stated that she wanted to loseweight because her significant others such as friends and family asked her to do so.

Jane (12 years old, born in Hong Kong): I didn’t do much exercise, well I did, I ranand everything but not a lot. But I didn’t eat much. And I drank a lot of tea to loseweight.

I: Why do you want to lose weight?

J: Because everyone just kept asking me and asking me, so I was like, why not.…They were like, you’ll get heart disease and die at 40 … because I used to eat a lot ofjunk food.

I: How do you feel now then, from 47 to 33 kg?

J: I feel ok, well, certainly I feel better when other people look at me, and say that Ilook normal. It changes how people look at you. And it makes you feel better aboutyourself. (Interview 4, Sage College)

In order for Jane to feel good and be accepted, she felt that she must conform to herpeers’ judgements about her. Her comments demonstrate the moral responsibilitythat underpins healthism discourse, which argues that it is wrong to look fat. Inconcurrence with other researchers from a feminist perspective (Azzarito, 2010;Evans, Rich, Allwood, & Davies, 2008; Garrett, 2004; Webb, Quennerstedt, &Öhman, 2008), the perpetuation of thinness exacerbated these young girls’subordinate status in the gender hierarchy. Their bodies were constantly measuredup to the norm through ‘dangerous’ dieting habits or compulsory exercise, which

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incited their shame and reduced their sense of agency to choose alternative ways andpractices of a healthy body.The data explained that the young people in this study who adopted the ‘norm’

position understood health as mainly related to the physical attributes of the ‘right’shape, weight, skin tone and height. Eating the ‘right’ types of food and doingenough exercise were commonly expressed as a means to being healthy, with some ofthem articulating in precise detail what should be eaten and what their BMI shouldbe (e.g. two servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables with a BMI of 18–20). InFoucault’s terms, normalisation is enacted through contemporary public healthdiscourses (e.g. regimens of power were exerted in ways that served to inform Ted’ssubjectivities of health) and through Chinese practices (e.g. ‘tallness is a Chinesething’) that aim to shape young people’s (un)healthy body practices. The disciplinarypower of normalisation has a productive effect in the enactment and classification ofhealthy bodies but it can come at the expense of feeling ‘othered’ (e.g. Janeconformed to peer pressure to look thin). As Wright et al. (2006) remind us, these‘normalised’ notions of healthy bodies can be ‘dangerous’ because they construct aparticular way of monitoring the self that can create unnecessary desire, guilt, shameand self-surveillance.

The ‘Opposition’

As mentioned earlier, the opposition refers to alternative perspectives on typicalsubjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies in the West. Seven of the 12 youngChinese Australians discussed health in ways that went beyond physical attributesand dietary habits, pointing out the problematic nature of healthy and ‘ideal’ bodiesas indicated by popular media. Their ‘opposition’ position was characterised by adestabilising of the dominant Western ways of understanding a slim body to a healthybody. The young Chinese Australians’ understood health and (un)healthy bodies incomplex and contradictory ways. Indeed, the data indicated that their subjectivitieswere constructed within their fluid social and cultural contexts and sometimesdifferent from their Anglo-Celtic peers.The data indicated that the young people viewed their health as being influenced

by their relationships with others in their family, their social, cultural andenvironmental backgrounds; their state of mind; happiness; and being able to choosewhere they lived. These subjectivities of health encompassed a multidimensionalperspective and resonated with a holistic paradigm of health and well-being that wascurrently undermined in Western society (Tinning & Glasby, 2002). The findingsindicated that the blend of Eastern and Western approaches to health hadcontributed towards diverse subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies. Gloria,for example, discussed how her health differed when in Australia as opposed toChina. She highlighted that having a relaxed lifestyle is important to her health, as itmeant that she had time to take care of herself. Gloria stated that having good healthwas a priority but it was influenced by the (un)available choices and opportunitiesavailable as a result of social and economic resources:

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I: What is your reason to come here (Australia)?

Gloria (13 years old, born in China): Mainly it’s health…China is really polluted,and work is really stressful. And usually people there get sick easily. And they areusually, well they are fit but they don’t exercise as much. Yes, it’s really relaxinghere and when people are relaxed, they are not as stressful and they are usuallyhappier and they usually can look at how they can improve their health more … so ifyou’re really stressful, then you wouldn’t have the time to think about ‘what shouldI eat tonight’, ‘is it balanced’ or ‘when should I go to the gym’ or ‘when should I goto work out?’ (Interview 7, Routledge State High)

In a similar vein to Gloria, Jane described her dieting habits and physical activitypractices as different in Hong Kong and Brisbane. Jane was from a single-parentfamily, and her grandmother was responsible for taking care of her in Australia whileher father travelled to and from Hong Kong for business. She commented that shewas involved in more exercise in Brisbane because of the spacious environment, yetshe did not eat as well:

I: How would you describe your health?

Jane: I don’t think I’m healthy. I don’t eat that well here [Brisbane]. But, I exerciseregularly. I don’t like salad and vegetables and fruits and I just stick to meat andrice, and I don’t think I get enough vegetables. I eat chips and things. People inHong Kong are not as large and bulky as people here. (Interview 2, Sage College)

Gloria lived with her parents revealing that her eating habits were strongly influencedby their familial background. Her family members often chose healthy food such asfat-free products, fruits and vegetables, fresh juice, and restricted her intake of meat,sugary products and junk food from the school’s tuck shop:

Gloria: I think my family members, like my auntie whom I live with, sometimes wedo groceries together, she’s really concerned with the health issues, like REALLYconcerned. Like the milk we drink is all like 99% fat free, and like everything wehad, peanut butter, 99% fat free, she’s just obsessed. (Interview 1, RoutledgeState High)

XiXi commented that having ‘good’ familial backgrounds contributed to hersubjectivities of health. To some of these young people in a similar position, a‘good’ familial background meant living in a protective environment that supportedthem to do physical activities, having healthy relationships and communicating withfamily and friends, having high self-esteem and being relaxed in their lives:

XiXi: I think what makes people healthy.… I believe you have to look at threethings: it will be their food, physical activity and their background, if a child is livingon the street, obviously they’re not that healthy because their self-esteem is low andthey just won’t be happy. (Interview 1, Sage College)

The findings revealed that many of the young people had a complex family structure,which brought with it a degree of surveillance in relation to their dietary habits. The

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data suggested that the young people were in close proximity to their parents orguardians and this served to influence their dietary habits. In addition, transnationalconnections had contributed to the choices that these young people could make intheir daily health practices.Three of the young people commented that being happy was more important than

physical appearance in the pursuit of health, suggesting they had a relativelycomprehensive understanding of health. In prioritising their emotional well-beingover their physical self, these young Chinese Australians countered the prominentand prevailing health discourses that often prevail in the West. Catherine, forexample, commented that the most important component of health was actually ‘notobsessing with exercising or having healthy food or having the perfect body but ratherbeing happy’ (Interview 4, Routledge State High). She believed that people withbetter emotional health and well-being tended to have a lower intake of fatty foodand, thus, a healthier body. Alice (13 years old, born in Australia) suggested that agood-looking body did not necessarily equate to a healthy body. She stated that:

I think that some people might look really skinny, but they might have eaten a lot ofjunk food, or they may have gone through a diet, which is really painful … a goodbody is one that looks happy and it doesn’t matter if they are skinny or fat, it’s just ifthey look happy and kind of happy with their own body. (Interview 4, RoutledgeState High)

Alice further explained that health meant having an open and positive approachto life:

I think being healthy needs the right state of mind. That is, thinking that you’rehealthy, thinking that you’re a good person, so you’re able to stay healthy, this kindof mind, keeping your mind open. (Interview 1, Routledge State High)

Ada also challenged the assumption that thinness is synonymous with fitness whichis, in turn, synonymous with health. She commented that a person’s body size isoften influenced by genetics and, thus, she believed that it is normal to ‘look big’ andhealthy:

Ada (14 years old, born in Australia): I think being healthy is also influenced bywhat people are born into. I think some people might look good on the outside butsome people might be good on the inside, like having enough sports and eatingwell, because it depends how you’re born, maybe you have bigger bones but youcan still be healthy. (Interview 1, Sage College)

Hattie’s quote illustrated the importance of understanding health in diverse ways,especially in relation to body size and shape:

I: What do you think about #3?

Hattie (11 years old, born in Hong Kong): I guess she’s fat but you could be fat.Some people are fat and healthy. Or else the world will have all skinny people, andthat’s kind of pretty boring. (Interview 4, Sage College)

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Three of the girls consciously resisted the hyper-realistic slim and flawless bodiesportrayed in popular media. For example Catherine suggested, ‘I would say #1 or #7has normal skin tone, but I know that’s been airbrushed and it’s probably not goingto happen in reality’. Gloria commented, ‘For example, #2, they are really, reallyskinny, that’s anorexic, but apparently that’s beauty nowadays’ (Interview 4,Routledge State High). These young girls pointed out the body figures in themagazines were not ‘real’ but were constructed by creative media technologies (e.g.airbrush effect). They were able to challenge the postmodern media culture thatglamorised unrealistic skin tones as well as body size. This was how Shilling (2010)discussed that the popular culture had often equated health and body/physicalappearance. This was evidenced by the following quote from Catherine whochallenged the muscular bodies in the magazine cuttings that are often valued inWestern masculinity and resisted the associated regimented lifestyles, such asheightened self-responsibilities in fitness training and dietary habits, that worktowards a ‘moral’ self (Foucault, 1988):

Catherine: Numbers 4, 5 and 7, they’re just like what people want their bodies tolook like, with those six packs, buffed sort of thing. That doesn’t actually appeal tome … I’d say they probably spend their lives downing protein shakes and fish, andthey’re working out at the gym, and then sleeping and then eating protein shakesand fish and then go into the gym and then again. (Interview 4, Sage College)

The young Chinese Australians who (re)produced the ‘opposition’ discourseposition discussed health as being influenced by a range of influences, includingsociocultural environments and the media. The findings that aligned with theopposition position reflected a more comprehensive subjectivity of health than thosewho reproduced privileged biomedical health discourses. For some of the youngpeople, health was related to happiness and open mindedness, and they appeared tovalue the association between emotional wellness and health. This resonates with thetraditional Chinese practice in the maintenance and restoration of health that aims tomaintain a balance and an interaction between the mind (Yin) and the body (Yang)(Griffiths, 1999; Torsch & Ma, 2000). From this, we conclude that theirsubjectivities of healthy bodies may differ from their Anglo-Celtic peers in Westerncontexts, where research suggests that young people have unequivocally understoodhealth in terms of obesity, thinness and physical fitness.

Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was to explore the young Chinese Australians’subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies. The findings have drawn attentionto the limitations of prevalent health discourses in the West and provide insights intodiscourses that are arguably undermined in Western societies.The findings indicated that the young Chinese Australians in this study tended to

adopt one of two subject positions, or a mixture of the two, when discussing theirsubjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies. We were aware, however, that in

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these young people’s lives, tension existed between health discourses and theassociated positions (i.e. the ‘norm’ and ‘opposition’). Indeed, negotiation andresistance were an integral part of some of their meanings of health and (un)healthybodies. This was evident when the participants evidenced contradictions in theirsubjectivities. Catherine, for example, commented that she classified her health as‘really bad’ and that her weight could be more ‘balanced’ as she referenced stronglyto the BMI standards. Later in the interview, however, Catherine appeared tochallenge this dominant health discourse and argued that the most importantcomponent of health is actually ‘not obsessing with exercising or having healthyfood or having the perfect body but rather in being happy’ (Interview 4, RoutledgeState High). She further explained that people with better emotional health and well-being tend to have a lower intake of fatty food and, thus, a healthier body. Therewere others who demonstrated the intention to resist the normalisation of bodies andhealth, such as Jane, who tried hard to convince herself not to conform to her peers’gaze on her body size. However, eventually she could not resist to the powerfuleffects of normality and succumbed to the practice of losing weight and ‘look-ing good’.In response to moving beyond discourses that had underpinned Western

perspectives on health, we believe the Chinese Australians were valuable citizensand their subjectivities were particularly relevant to the education of health and(un)healthy bodies in the HPE and health and physical education teacher education(HPETE) curriculum. Some of the young people adopted the ‘opposition’ position,with most of the girls demonstrating their criticality and ability to resist dominantforces that challenged the traditional Chinese femininity, which was docile andsubmissive (Jiang, 2009).The findings had significant implications for promoting teaching and learning in

health in HPE and HPETE. First, some of the young Chinese girls were able tocritique dominant health discourses and provide insights to alternatives in Australia.This challenged the assumption that non-Western students are incapable of critique(Singh, 2013). This also showed that young Chinese Australians are not submissive,as often assumed, and did have a voice that could contribute significantly to the fundof knowledge in HPE.Second, we asserted that HPE and HPETE would benefit from exploring

alternative ways of understanding health and (un)healthy bodies (e.g. traditionalChinese perspectives on health and bodies). HPE curriculum and policy oftenemphasised the multidimensional nature of health and well-being (i.e. the intellec-tual, social, emotional, spiritual, physical, environmental and vocational); theconnections of our mind, body and spirit (e.g. mindfulness, yoga and Tai Chi); thepromotion of happiness (e.g. subjective well-being and quality of life); reflectivepractice for personal growth; and a strengths-based approach for promoting personal,social and community health and well-being (e.g. recognising cultural wealth)(Pang & Macdonald, 2015). Unfortunately, however, research showed that thecomplexities that were identified in policy were not always identifiable in HPEpractice. This was due to a number of reasons, not least the limited extent to which

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professional development, inclusive of HPETE, could effectively challenge pre-service and in-service teachers’ subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies(Alfrey, Cale, & Webb, 2012).Third, the participants discussed the ways in which health consisted of contra-

dictions, negotiations and resistance, which were integral to their everyday lives.HPE teachers were in a position to increase school students’ awareness of healthdiscourses and the ways in which they could impact their subjectivities of health and(un)healthy bodies. In terms of moving forward, teacher educators in HPETE shouldassess students’ ability to reflect on the nature and extent of prevailing healthdiscourses that served to shape people’s health practices. This could assist HPETEstudents to critically analyse their possible contradictory health discourses and howthey negotiated around these discourses and made the best choices that work forthem and others.We acknowledged the benefits in utilising non-Western concepts and perspectives

in exploring issues around health and healthy bodies. What we understood was that a‘healthy’, ‘normal’ or ‘ideal’ body could vary, but some ways of seeing were morepowerful than others in specific sociocultural contexts (e.g. privileging the body overthe mind), and they were perpetuated as taken-for-granted beliefs among theseyoung people’s lives. Future research that draws on a variety of health-relatedconcepts (e.g. Yin–Yang, Wen–Wu) is needed to unpack EAL/D students’ meaningsof health. In essence, research that explored ‘others’ in HPE should move beyondmimicking work designed for the West, which concluded that these young peoplewere (un)healthy based on the Western gaze. We envision an intercultural healtheducation environment where diversity and inclusion meant taking up other culturesas well as of young Chinese Australians’ critical voices and emphasising a holisticparadigm in teaching, learning and research in HPE and HPETE.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the reviewer for the detailed and constructive comments. Theauthors also thank the 12 student participants who participated to this study. The first author isthankful to Professor Doune Macdonald for her support and guidance during the larger scaleresearch.

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