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Sundhed er blevet en allestedsnærværende koncept, hvor hver dag er fyldt med løbende påmindelser om sund livsstil. Gennem medierne vi konstant opfordres til at revurdere vores valg omkring livsstil, hvor optimering en forbedring styrer os mod den ideelle version af os selv. I det seneste årti har flere sociologer undersøgt, hvordan sundhedsdiskurser i det moderne vestlige samfund påvirker vores sundhedsvalg og den måde, vi opfatter os selv. Inspireret til at deltage i denne samtale ønsker jeg at belyse, hvordan den massive fokus i samfundet på sundhed påvirker en gruppe unge kvinder, der ellers ikke problematiseres i sundhedsdiskussioner.Med et social konstruktivistisk og poststrukturalistisk perspektiv ønsker jeg at undersøge, hvordan unge kvinder, alderen 25-3,5 italesætter sundhed. Jeg ønsker også at undersøge hvorledes udfordringer mødes af de unge kvinder i udtrykkelsen af deres sundhedsforståelse, i relation til sundhedsdiskurser i samfundet.Som undersøgelsesmetode har jeg valgt at foretage to fokusgruppeinterviews med tre deltagere i hver gruppe. Fokusgrupper som fremgangsmåde forsøger at imitere socialt konstruerede grupper. Herved ligger et potentiale i fokusgrupper for deltagerne at interagere med hinanden på en sådan måde at normative praksisser og meninger udtrykkes. Dette kan føre til meningsdannelse hvorunder kategorier knyttet til sundhed er konstrueret, og også selv-konstruktion af subjektet.For at analysere de empiriske data fra fokusgruppeinterviews har jeg valgt diskursanalyse, hvor jeg har brugt flere poststrukturalistiske begreber fx. magt, governmentality, normalisering, optimering og forbedring.Jeg finder, at sundhed som begreb artikuleres på mange forskellige måder. Sundhed opfattes generelt som noget positivt og ønskværdigt - uden yderligere refleksion. I optikken af ​​udtrykket governmentality, kan det indlysende, hvorved sundhed opfattes tolkes som en usynlig magt, der former de unge kvinders moral - og som kommer til udtryk i deres egen etisk perspektiv af sundhed. De unge kvinder møder udfordringer af refleksionerne over deres egen sundhed forståelser, hvor dette undertiden kan føre til følelsen af ​​dårlig samvittighed. De unge kvinder står også over for udfordringer i det uendelige optimerings og forbedrings perspektiv på sundhed. Derfor fremstår sundhed som et idealiseret mål, man aldrig helt kan opnå., Health has become an omnipresent concept where every day is filled with continuous reminders of healthy lifestyles. Through the medias we are constantly encouraged to re-evaluate our lifestyle choices where optimization an improvement will guide us towards the ideal version of our selves. In the past decade several sociologists have investigated how health discourses in the modern western society impact our health choices and the way we perceive ourselves. Inspired to take part in this conversation I wish to elucidate how the massive focus of society on health affects a group of women, who is otherwise not problematized in health discussions. With a social constructivist and poststructuralist perspective I wish to investigate how young women, age 25-35 articulate the concept of health. I also wish to investigate challenges met by the young women in expression their perspective on health in relation to health discourses in society. As method of investigation I have chosen to conduct two focus group interviews with three participants in each group. Focus groups as a method tries to mimic socially constructed groups. Hereby lies a potential in focus groups for participants to interact with each other in such a manner that normative practices and opinions are expressed. This can lead to the formation of meaning by which categories linked to health are constructed, and also self-construction of the subject. To analyse the empirical data from the focus group interviews I have chosen the format of a discourse analysis, in which I have utilized several poststructuralist concepts i.e. power, governmentality, normalization, optimization and improvement. I find that health as a concept is articulated in many different ways. Health is generally perceived as something positive and desirable – without any further reflection. In the optic of the term governmentality, the obviousness by which health is perceived can by interpreted as an invisible power shaping the morality of the young women – which is expressed in their own ethical perspective of health. The young women are challenge by reflexions upon their own health understandings, where this can sometimes lead to the feeling of guilty. The young women also face challenges in the never-ending optimization and improvement perspective on health. As such health appears to be an idealized goal one can never fully achieve.

The campaign, ”Kun med Kondom” was introduced in 2006 by the Danish National Health Author- ity and has now for 9 years been admonishing that the only correct way to have sex is by using a condom. The campaign’s narrow, biomedical perspective, where focus is on absence of STDs and involuntary pregnancy, is inconsistent with the recommendations that the National Health Authority proposes in several reports of sexual health. This study operates from a broad, open health understanding, which, in determining a person’s health, means considering the individual as a whole including their everyday life and conceptual universe as well as the physical factors. We therefore find it relevant to investigate how young sin- gle people’s sexlives are influenced by the opposing biomedical discourse to understand which im- pact this may have on their individual health. In the conduction of a focus group conversation consisting of young, single Danes, we experi- enced that the participants described a number of challenges in leading a sexlife as a single, which consciously or unconsciously may have an impact on their individual health experience. On these grounds this study examines the articulation of young peoples sexual behavior based on aforemen- tioned focus group conversation. In analyzing verbalization through the theoretical foundation of Michel Foucault’s conceptualiza- tion of power and Aaron Antonovsky’s theory of Sense of Coherence, we can state that the partici- pants of this focus group articulate several stressors they meet in the endeavor of leading a satisfac- tory sexlife. No matter how the young single achieve a satisfactory sex life, the effort itself is of importance, since a satisfying sex life affects both physical health, psyche and the overall Sense of Coherence. Through a discussion of the concept of health based on the results of the focus group, we can con- clude that a complete experience of meaningfulness can be difficult or impossible to achieve, in that the young singles feel assigned to the biomedical discourse. Should a sexual health discourse with a broader health perspective gain more general acceptance, it would let young single people individu- ally consider what sexual health means to them and by doing so achieving greater Sense of Coher- ence.

Udgivelsesdato: April 18