"Happiness is to Fit a Small Size Dress": the Cult of the Body in Contemporary Urban Society

Abstract

The present article aims at considering
contemporary cult of the body, especially among
medium and high class women who regularly at-
tend the fitness center Cia Athlética. It tries to un-
derstand why the body has assumed a privileged
place in the symbolic references of our culture.
It demonstrates that these women consider their
bodies to be important instruments of social inte-
raction, a means to obtain social status and to be in-
tegrated into the business market, self-esteem, etc.
Finally, it rapidly approaches some of the paradoxes
of the cult of the body, such as eating disorders.