Self-control and Bodily Resources: Teenage Girls in the Face of the Paradox of Sanitary Democracy. Swiss and Moroccan Case Studies

Our contribution focuses on the participation of a Moroccan and a Swiss girl, diagnosed with anorexia and trichotillomania, in the pursuit of their care trajectories. Against the background of sanitary democracy and global health, we address the question of how the girls play their patient role. Highlighting the self-control directive in the therapies, we describe the treatments and the use of contractual tools. Furthermore, we study the adults’ affirmations of the existence of ‚womanhood‘ and ask how the context facilitates the implementation of a female body ideal. We also look at the girls’ dress codes and appearance, analyse their gender performativity, and conclude with revealing the paradox of self-control, showing how girls use self-control, a form of agency, to bypass the medical contractual rules and control their self-construction.