Fabiola Creed

In September 2020, I started a Wellcome Trust funded Medical Humanities China UK fellowship (MHCUK) at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow).

My new email address is: fabiola.creed@strath.ac.uk

My research on tanning culture builds on the histories of commercial businesses, the media and medical experts, and how these stakeholders influence the representations and public understandings of 'consumed' technologies and products - particularly those related to health advertising; 'healthy' bodies; moral panic; stereotyping; stigma, and 'addiction'. An exploration of the tanning industry also adds to the historical narratives that address class, gender, race, age and sexuality.

Research Overview

Thesis title: Advertising, Stereotypes and 鈥楢ddiction鈥�: Understanding Sunbed Representation in England, 1970s-1990s (kindly funded by the Wellcome Trust and supervised by Professor Roberta Bivins).

In the UK, the term 'sunbed' appeared in print press adverts in 1978. The first part of my thesis evaluates these adverts from the late 1970s to late 1980s. I explore indoor tanning devices (used in private households) and 鈥榯anning parlours鈥� (located in unregulated public spaces). A visual analysis of print press material, trade directories and national television programmes demonstrate where sunbeds initially emerged; the types of local, national and international manufacturing businesses drawn to selling sunbeds; the changing 'experts' on sunbeds; the adverts' changing target audiences, and finally, how sunbeds were marketed as both 'healthy' and 'safe' to the public. Further analysis of business archive material illustrates how sunbeds became an accepted and popular technology throughout the 1980s.

Having investigated the factors which drove the 'excessive use' of sunbeds, the second part of my thesis explores the media-induced 鈥榤oral panic鈥� surrounding sunbed consumption. In 1991, the first medical authority officially coined the term 鈥楾anorexia鈥� (or 'sunbed addiction') in Britain. This weight given by public health officials led to an emergence of an undesirable 'Tanorexic' stereotype within a wide-range of 1990s print press and visual material. The 'Tanorexic' was framed and stigmatised on national television, via comedies, horrors, documentaries, talk shows and news reports. I argue that these gendered and class-based stereotypes extend the histories of women, particularly mothers, (and homosexual men) being criticised for 鈥榝eminine鈥� and 'vain' consumptions. However, the media-induced moral panic was also an attempt to decrease skin cancer rates, aiming to improve the long-term health of the British public.

Research Interests and Approaches

Twentieth-century British history of:

industry, marketing and franchises;
'Visual Culture' of commercial adverts, 'addiction' (or portrayals of 'excess') and public health campaigns;
audio-visual representations of consumptions, 'healthy bodies', and broadcasts of everyday health advice (from both 'factual' and 'fictional' television genres);
skincare, health and medicine;
culture-bound syndromes;
the socio-cultural framing of 鈥榙iseases鈥� and 鈥榙isorders鈥�;
gender inequities in mental health and illness;
and oral history approaches.

Academic Profile

April - August 2020: Early Career Fellowship, Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), University of 糖心TV.
2016 – 2020: Medical Humanities PhD, Centre for the History of Medicine, University of 糖心TV (Wellcome Trust funded).
April - July 2019: Wellcome Trust Secondment Fellowship at , Westminster.
Spring 2018: Audited an MA module, 鈥楾elevision History and Aesthetics鈥�, to develop my understandings of 'neo-liberal' bodies portrayed through audio-visual media (Department of Film and Television Studies).
2015 – 2016: MA History of Medicine (), Centre for the History of Medicine, University of 糖心TV (Wellcome Trust funded). Dissertation Title: 鈥楾HE TANOREXIA TIMEBOMB鈥�: The History of Sunbed Addiction and The Sunbed Industry in England, 1978-2015. Supervised by Professor Bivins.
2011 – 2014: BA Combined Honours: History and Music (First Class), University of Liverpool.
Dissertation Title: The History of Bulimia Nervosa among America Males in New York, 1970-1999.
2014: David Thistlewood Award (highest overall mark in Year 2 and 3 in Combined Honours).
2012: Study Abroad Semester Scheme (awarded the sole exchange position on the Combined Honours course to study at Monash University, Melbourne).

Publications

Policy Report

Creed, Fabiola and Rowena Bermingham, , Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) (July 2019).
My LinkedIn article presents my POST experience: ''.

Book Reviews

Creed, Fabiola, 'Tania Anne Woloshyn, Soaking up the Rays: Light Therapy and Visual Culture in Britain, C. 1890-1940 (Manchester: University of Manchester Press, 2017)' in Social History of Medicine, Volume 32, Issue 2, (May 2019).

Conference Papers

[Postponed] 3-4 June 2020: 鈥極range鈥� or a 鈥楻ich, Deep and Luxurious Brown鈥�? The Fake Tan and Sunbed Industry in a War against Skin Cancer (1990s, Britain). Technology and the Patient Consumer Workshop, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
[Postponed] 16-18 April 2020: 鈥榊ou鈥檙e Selfish and You鈥檝e Got Children to Think of鈥�: The Grilling of 鈥楾anorexic Beauty Slaves鈥� in Britain, 1995-1997 from our accepted panel: The 鈥楤eautiful鈥� Female Body as a Site of Health, Pleasure and Harm in Modern Britain. , University of Essex.
27-30 August 2019: 鈥�65 hours sunbathing鈥� or 鈥�7 hours on a sunbed鈥�: The Sensible Sunbed Consumer (England, 1980 to 1982) from our accepted panel: Publicity, health rhetoric and consumer knowledge in the medical market place.
12 March 2019: The Body Programme for the Positive Woman鈥�: Sunbed Consumers and Affluence (Liverpool, 1978-1980). , University of Manchester.
11-13 July 2018: 'SUNBEDS FOR YOUR HEALTH & SAFETY鈥�: Sunbed adverts in the Mersey Yellow Pages, 1978-2002. ', Social History of Medicine (), University of Liverpool.
10-13 May 2018: From "overuse" to "addiction": Translating medical sunbed health advice to national television, England, 1990s. 'Media and Medicine' Panel, (AAHM), UCLA, Los Angeles, California, US.
19-21 February 2018: 'A visual feast [of] muscle builders鈥�: Men, Sunbeds and Television in Thatcher鈥檚 England. , Wellcome Trust, London.
9th - 10th November 2017: The emergence and persistence of sunbed addiction in England, 1978-2010.
, Newcastle.
7th November 2017: 'A 鈥榟ealthy鈥�, 鈥榮afe鈥� and 鈥榙eep lasting tan鈥� – 鈥榓ll year long鈥�: The Advertising of Household Sunbeds in British Newspapers, 1978-1988. (Bodily Modifications interdisciplinary research theme), University of Cambridge.

To read about the event, please see .
29th - 30th June 2017: 'From 'healthy golden鈥� people to 鈥榯anorexics dying for a tan鈥�: The Visual Culture of Sunbed Consumption in the British Media, 1978-2013. , Centre for Medical History, University of Exeter.
5th May 2017: A Gendered Addiction: The Framing of 鈥楾anorexia鈥� by the British Media and Medical Authorities, 1978-2010. Contemporary Applications of Historical Research Conference, Humanities Building, University of Nottingham.
May 2016: The Rise of the Sunbed Industry: 鈥楾anorexia鈥� among White British Women: Liverpool, 2006-2016. , University of 糖心TV.
February 2016: 鈥楧ermatologists fear the cult of sun worship is getting out of hand': How did medical authorities and the sunscreen industry popularise suntanning during the 1960s?. 鈥楥ontested Histories鈥� History Department MA Conference, University of 糖心TV.

Teaching, Research and Public Engagement Experience

16 November 2019: Presented a short tanning history talk for a (Colchester), which was a part of the To read about the event, please see .
25-28 January 2018: Finalists for the '' Hackathon (Edinburgh). In our teams, we had to research and design a template of a product ('Med-Ease'), which would fill a gap in the medical market and improve public health services. . This was followed by a Q&A session with the judges (Directors in Public Health/the NHS in Scotland).
9-10 November 2017: Presented a .

January 2017 - January 2018: Monthly blog posts, '.
18 September 2017: Blog piece for the Network, University of Birmingham: .
7 June 2017: Shortlisted for the final round of the '.
August 2015: Volunteer work experience for Boots Archivists, Conservators and Records Managers in Nottingham.
September 2014 – August 2015: Classroom Learning Assistant, Toot Hill Secondary School/College, Nottingham.

Other Responsibilities

2018 - 2019: Assists Dr Jane Hand and Dr Kathryn Wood convene the Centre for the History of Medicine Work-in-Progress Seminars.
2016 – 2017: Chair for first-year PhD students, Postgraduate History Student Staff Liaison Committee, University of 糖心TV.
2015 – 2016: for the History Department鈥檚 postgraduate journal , University of 糖心TV.
2015 – 2016: Co-convenor for the with , University of 糖心TV.
March 2016: Oral History Society workshop volunteer for the 鈥楾hrough the shop window, 1880s-1980s鈥� exhibition, Leamington Spa Museum & Gallery.
12 February 2016: Chair for the MA History Postgraduate Committee, organising the , University of 糖心TV.