Some kinds of public health messages are unjust and unethical, and feminist analyses of oppression and autonomy can assist in explaining why. Using public health anti-obesity campaigns to provide context, I explore, in this paper, how manipulative public health campaigns oppress the targets of these messages, and undermine people’s ability to be self-directed decision makers. I begin with an analysis of what it means to communicate in a manipulative way. This leads to the argument that such campaigns are both oppressive and incompatible with the self-authorization required for health-related behavioral changes.
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