What is Health? Rough Draft

Nick Dunn

Greenlee Brown

ENG 201

8 February 2016

What is “Health?”

Health is a term that is usually defined the same way by most people.  “To be free of illness” is what the typical answer would be.  However, it is much more than that.  In today’s world, it isn’t very common to find people who are in “perfect” health.  Someone who is free of all illness and disease, in great shape, is mentally focused, and has an incredible social life is hard to find.  There are two main types of health; physical and mental with other types such as social and emotional that work hand in hand with mental.  Being in good health, is when the two main components, mental and physical, or the mind and the body are in unison and working together.  In other words, if a person is capable of using their brain and mind to make rational decisions that lead to having the energy to perform their life tasks and offers a sense of vitality, they are considered to be of good health.  Bodybuilding in many regards, is considered to be healthy.  These athletes are constantly consuming nutrients that are key to a healthy mind and body as well as the natural effects of exercise in itself has on the body as a whole.  Based on the evidence I have found in “Roxanne Edwards is Superhuman,” an interview of Roxanne Edwards done by S. Adrian Massey, and “Against Ordinary Language: The Language of the Body,” written by Kathy Acker it is clear to see that these examples align with the true meaning of health.  

Everyone who works out has a goal of what they eventually want their body to become or look like.  For Roxanne Edwards, that look is “peeled.”  In her interview with S. Adrian Massey, Edwards made it clear that she “came out the womb an athlete,” which was originally asserted by her mother (Massey).  Roxanne, who is a professional bodybuilder, knows a thing or two about eating healthy, working her body most efficiently, as well as keeping a straight mindset.  As a female, Roxanne recognizes that bodybuilding is not as common among those of her gender compared to the male.  Many people have even questioned her femininity.  Nonetheless, she has never let this affect her in any negative way.  Instead she accepts the fact that other women might have different versions of femininity, but as Edwards says, “I see myself as me...I am a human being that sees the world from a different vantage point” (Massey).  She recognizes what it is that she wants to achieve and by having a clear and healthy mind, she is allowing herself to achieve what it is she wants which in her case is a “peeled physique.”  

Roxanne Edwards openly admitted that she is a steroid user.  Although normally the use of steroids or performance enhancing drug is frowned upon and condoned as being unhealthy, it does not make Roxanne an unhealthy person.  From the interview it was very easy to see that Edwards is very knowledgable about her body, and that what she puts into her body effects her output in her workouts.  She noted that her use of steroids was only for stage, and that the side effects that everyone hears about only happen if the use of steroids is continuous and extreme (Massey).  In her case, Roxanne does not fit the “extreme, continuous” user profile for she is aware of what is good and what is bad for her body.  Edwards has a strong connection between her mind and her body which is hard to find, but is what also makes her fit into the category of “health.”

Kathy Acker, author of “Against Ordinary Language: The Language of the Body” was also one to point out how the body cannot be “controlled or known” meaning that there are other parts that make up one’s overall health.  “A bodybuilder is always working around failure,” Acker says.  The term “failure” in this context can be interpreted in different ways.  Whether it be the fact that bodybuilders and weightlifters in general work their muscles until they can’t work them anymore (failure), or that they are always striving to become someone better; to have bigger muscles, to have a better body, to be able to lift more weight, etc.  This sense of constant failure, is the driving force that the mind plays on them which is what makes bodybuilding a mental game (Acker).  When the failure point is reached, there becomes a greater push to overcome that failure leading to more hard work both mentally and physically.  Acker states, “Bodybuilding offers a method for understanding and controlling the physical.”  This “understanding” is the unison between the mind and body which are the two main components of “health.”

The term “health” is so loosely defined in today’s world.  Models, actors/actresses, athletes, musicians, etc. are all the face of what the regular person sees as being healthy.  Because of this, it is common to see that many of these people strive to be like these “models” that are constantly being advertised through the media.  However, this does not necessarily make someone healthy.  The idea of health is that one’s mind and body are working together, hand in hand, enabling us to live our lives to the fullest.  Someone that has a body that looks good, but doesn’t have the best social skills or someone who has great social skills and abilities to build lasting relationships, but has a history of illness aren’t exactly the best to define health either.  Health is a puzzle built up of pieces led by our mental and physical states of being.  When these pieces are working together, hand-in-hand, that is how “health” is defined, just as we see through Roxanne Edwards and Kathy Acker.

Works Cited Page:

Acker, Kathy. “Against Ordinary Language: The Language of the Body.” UBU Mexico.  

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Massey, S. Adrian “Roxanne Edwards is Superhuman.”  Dis Magazine. 2012. Web.