Rewritten Article:
The evolution of wellness, from workout crazes to psychological happenings, transforming into an overwhelming American phenomenon.
TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
Welcome to FRESH AIR. I'm Tonya Mosley. Today, we're diving into the multi-trillion-dollar industry that is the wellness world. Are you curious about metabolism boosters, mental clarity enhancers, gut health boosters, or stress reducers? The wellness industry has promises for all of those and more. Amy Larocca, an award-winning journalist, explores the wellness trend in her new book, "How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time." With the rise of self-care culture, how do we know what's real versus a clever marketing ploy? Larocca dives into detoxes, colonics, infrared wraps, sweat lodges, wellness apps, and supplements to separate the wheat from the chaff. In her exploration, she reveals a fascinating system shaped by our beliefs about health, status, gender, and worth.
AMY LAROCCA: Hello, Tonya.
MOSLEY: Welcome to FRESH AIR.
LAROCCA: Thank you so much for having me.
MOSLEY: So, Amy, let's start with defining "wellness." When we talk about "wellness," it seems like we're referring to a broad concept that goes beyond just physical health. Can you help us understand what wellness means in the context of this book?
LAROCCA: Absolutely. Wellness is an enormous industry that often serves as a luxury good, although it didn't start out that way. It's a confluence of various elements of physical and mental well-being that can range from supplements to wellness retreats. And it's often sold to women, especially, as the ultimate self-improvement tool – something that's packaged to make us feel like we're not good enough, and that we need to do more, be more, buy more to achieve some kind of undefined ideal. And that's part of what I explore in the book.
MOSLEY: You position the wellness movement as a self-care epidemic. Why the addition of "epidemic"?
LAROCCA: Well, I choose to use that term "epidemic" to convey the sense of pervasiveness, urgency, and seriousness that I feel about this movement. It's become so ingrained in our daily lives that we often don't realize how much we're bombarded with messages about our bodies, our wellness, our health, and our looks. It's something we think about constantly, and it's often portrayed in a way that makes us feel we're missing out if we're not doing enough, buying the right products, or seeking out the right treatments. So, an epidemic seemed an appropriate term to describe this phenomenon.
MOSLEY: Let's talk about how wellness is marketed towards women. You open the book with the figure of the well woman, who is educated, striving, spiritual, and has a specific whiskey for her matcha. Can you expand on this character and why she's the ideal customer for the wellness market?
LAROCCA: The well woman, as I describe in the book, is a composite character that encapsulates the typical consumer of the wellness industry. She's a seeker, always looking for unique solutions to her health and wellness concerns. She's often highly educated, well-off, and active on social media, influencing her peers through her purchases, recommendations, and lifestyle choices. She's been programmed to believe that her body is a project that requires constant work and improvement. She's the perfect target for the wellness industry because she's always willing to spend money on the latest trends and fads – often before they've been scientifically proven to work.
MOSLEY: In your book, you explore various wellness trends — colonics, cryotherapy, energy healing, crystal therapy, and many others. As you delved into the world of wellness, were there any trends that seemed particularly concerning or alarming to you?
LAROCCA: One trend that I found particularly concerning was the rise of wellness apps, which promise to help users monitor their mental and physical health, track their habits, and offer personalized advice. However, upon closer inspection, many of these apps collect vast amounts of sensitive data about their users without fully disclosing how that data is being used or sold. This raises significant privacy and security concerns, particularly given the increased focus on wellness as a means of self-improvement.
MOSLEY: You've read a lot of diary entries from young girls dating back to the 1800s, and they all share a common thread — a desire to become a better version of themselves. In what way does the wellness movement, especially today, continue this long-standing tradition of self-improvement, and what makes it different or unique?
LAROCCA: In many ways, the wellness movement is a natural extension of the long-standing tradition of self-improvement. As you suggested, young girls have been documenting their desires to improve and change themselves for centuries. However, what makes the wellness movement different is the sheer scale of it and the role that technology and capitalism play in shaping and driving it. Today, we're not just searching for self-improvement amidst our friends and family; we're bombarded by messages from social media influencers, advertisements, and other sources, telling us that we need to improve our bodies, our minds, and our lives in a multitude of ways. And the wellness industry is perfectly poised to capitalize on that constant desire to better ourselves.
MOSLEY: One figure that you often mention throughout the book is Gwyneth Paltrow and her company, Goop. Can you discuss the influence of Gwyneth Paltrow on the wellness industry and why she's such a key figure in the landscape you've laid out in "How to Be Well"?
LAROCCA: Gwyneth Paltrow is a hugely influential figure in the wellness industry. With her popular lifestyle brand, Goop, she has built an empire around the idea of self-improvement and selling consumers on the latest wellness trends. While she often presents herself as a credible source, she's not always transparent about her motivations or the actual effectiveness of the products she endorses. This has made her a figure of both admiration and criticism within the wellness community. However, there's no denying that her influence is significant, both in terms of shaping the wellness industry as a whole and in persuading her followers to purchase the products and participate in the trends she promotes.
MOSLEY: Amy Larocca, thank you so much for joining us today.
LAROCCA: Thank you for having me, Tonya.
MOSLEY: Amy Larocca is an award-winning journalist, serving as a fashion director and editor-at-large for New York Magazine. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Town & Country, and the London Review of Books.
(SOUNDBITE OF TERRY SLINGBAUM'S "WATER GAMES - RAVEL RE-IMAGINED")
MOSLEY: If you'd like to catch up on FRESH AIR interviews you missed, like our conversation with Hayman Otremba about how he escaped the witch trials in Salem and went on to become a successful merchant and community leader in the New World, check out our podcast. You'll find it at freshair.npr.org, along with a transcript of today's show. For Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
[END]
- Amy Larocca, in her exploration of the wellness trend, delves into the intersection between mental and physical health, fitness and exercise, health-and-wellness, sexual-health, and nutrition.
- One of the surprising revelations in Larocca's book is that the wellness industry often packages its promises as self-improvement tools, particularly targeting women who are educated, striving, spiritual, and health-conscious, promoting them to believe they're not good enough and need constant improvement.
- In addition to physical wellness trends like colonics, cryotherapy, and energy healing, the wellness industry has increasingly turned to digital platforms, such as wellness apps, to monitor users' mental and physical health, track habits, and offer personalized advice – though these apps often collect and use sensitive user data without being transparent about their practices.
