Cortisol: Narratives, Provocations, Interpellations
The article considers the non-biological significance of cortisol. Referring to the literature, including popular scientific texts, as well as her own anthropological research, the author distinguishes several functions of the stress hormone. Cortisol legitimizes socially sanctioned values and ideals of good life in a world dominated by medical and biological explanations. Cortisol supports modern moral regimes, individualism in health management, and somatic subjectivity, but it can also give a sense of control in a high-risk world. Simultaneously, the stress hormone allows us to forget that what causes stress is overwhelmingly beyond an individual’s control, in truth related to one’s social positioning, dominant moral, economic, and political orders, or the inefficiency of healthcare and social security systems. Although it is the messenger of stress, cortisol obscures the truth about its sources, obscuring the complexity of such social facts as loneliness. Moreover, cortisol promotes good relationships with others, allowing one to enjoy sunshine and freeze-dried rose fruits.
Keywords: cortisol, hormones, stress, medicalization, health promotion, loneliness, “life itself”