Bodybuilder's Lifestyle : The diet and the obsession with body (original) (raw)
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Lucas Graduate Journal, 2023
This paper presents a peculiar approach of escaping the dual gender-identity conceptualization, using bodybuilding—which is both a sports and corporeal practice—as a tool to shatter gender stereotypes. The bodies that are transformed as a result of this practice will be analysed and interpreted as a way to develop a relevant distinction between those bodies that are objectified on stage, due to the sport’s regulations, and those bodies that are located within an artistic and activist frame as “critical flesh.” This analysis looks at the bodies of three artists involved in the practice of bodybuilding to develop their artworks in order to discuss whether or not this corporeal identity built through muscle development creates a split in the gender discourse and in the expectations that this discourse generates. This approach is developed through the visual and conceptual support from the following artists: Cassils [they/them] (Canada-USA), Francesca Steele [they/them] (UK), and the author of this paper [she/her].
Bodybuilding has generated debate and controversy for its position in the sporting world, with research having largely focused on pathologizing the sport. This study aimed to gain insight from the accounts of bodybuilders regarding their personal meanings, experiences, and motivations for engaging in the sport within Greece. Semi-structured interviews with six elite competitive bodybuilders were conducted. The emergent themes, using interpretative phenomenological analysis, were 1. the need to stand out vs toll of being different, 2. self-affirmation through challenges and personal sacrifices, 3. the importance of the mind in bodybuilding, and 4. the impacts of a transformational body. In conclusion, bodybuilding was referred to as a lifestyle choice which enhanced their self-confidence, their attunement with their own bodies and minds, and reinforced their state of being. Suggestions for future research and theoretical implications of these findings are outlined.
Motriz: Revista de Educação Física, 2021
This study aimed at understanding determinants of food choices and eating practices of aesthetics and weight class athletes from two countries. Methods: In this qualitative study, through recorded in-depth individual and focal group interviews, gymnasts (n = 16) and martial arts (n = 18) athletes from Brazil and Spain reported their eating practices. Transcripts were analyzed through the Content Analysis method. Results: The main determinants of athletes' eating practices were the quest for a specific body in line with each sports' discipline and cultural food aspects. The everyday eating practices respected the country of origin's food culture; however, some practices, especially aiming at weight loss were similar in both countries and related to the sports discipline. Female Brazilian aesthetics athletes were particularly worried about achieving a thinner body. Martial arts athletes from both countries reported adopting fast weight loss strategies presently or at some point in their sports trajectory. Internal and external pressure to lose weight was a constant factor, especially amongst Brazilians. Conclusions: There is a specific body culture in each sport discipline, which extends beyond country borders. The idealized bodies athletes seek are constructed socially according to their sports. This confers them an identity and promotes beliefs and meanings to foodways. The sportsrelated eating practices which superimposed national foodways were similar in both countries, suggesting a group identity process, and the existence of a "sports discipline's food culture". Understanding athletes' determinants of food choices and eating practices provide insights to address the gap between nutritional recommendations and eating practices.
2012
Through a combination of historical and empirical research, the present thesis explores the development of dominant, organized bodybuilding culture across three periods: early (1880s-1930s), middle (1940s-1970s), and late (1980s-present). This periodization reflects the different paradigms in bodybuilding that the research identifies and examines at the level of body aesthetic, model of embodied practice, aesthetic of representation, formal spectacle, and prevalent meanings regarding the 'nature' of bodybuilding. Employing organized bodybuilding displays as the axis for the discussion, the project traces the gradual shift from an early bodybuilding model, represented in the ideal of the 'classical,' 'perfect' body, to a late-modern model celebrating the 'freaky,' 'monstrous' body. This development is shown to have entailed changes in notions of the 'good' body, moving from a 'restorative' model of 'all-around' developme...
As Rothgerber (2012) states, as arguments become more prominent that meat consumption is harmful to the ‘environment, public health, and animals’ (p.1); those who consume meat products will experience pressure to justify their meat eating. This, incorporated with the comparatively lesser male concern for the rights of animals, and the apparent animosity towards plant-based diets may be analysed as a development of masculinity (Rothgerber, 2012). In this exploratory study, men (aged between eighteen and twenty-five) gave accounts of their experiences of participating in weight work and of their diet. The data were then integrated with pre-existing theoretical research whilst at all times seeking to analyse through an ethical-vegetarian-feminist lens. The data were gathered through the use of focus groups (Morgan, 1998) before being submitted to a process of thematic analysis (Stenner, 1993). All participants presented discourses where attaining muscular physique was a goal and consumption of meat was a considered aspect of that ambition. Having a body shape that did not conform to those ideals was discriminated against and those who did adhere to the standards were elevated to the superior within a social-hierarchy. As well as the construction of social hierarchies based upon physical attributes, they were also created along the lines of diet with the opposition of men’s versus women’s food (Rogers, 2008) becoming apparent throughout. Data are discussed in relation to the construction of masculine gender identity as well as its relationship to the hierarchies of body ideals, diet and physical characteristics.
Bodybuilding as a subcultural lifestyle of peripheral youth
Health, Risk & Society, 2016
In this article, I draw on data from a qualitative study of a group of bodybuilding youth in Poland to examine how these young men form a distinctive subculture in an environment of conflicting influences of a post-communist, lower class environment and those of capitalism, and social advancement. In the study, conducted in 2014 in a small town in northeast of Poland still dealing with aftermath of the collapse of communism, I undertook 26 in-depth interviews with young bodybuilders and, in this article, focus on five cases that highlight the group's norms, activities, and overall functioning. In this article, I argue that bodybuilding was the foundation of a subcultural style, a means by which individuals could achieve peer respect and a method for them to channel emotions. I found that the activities associated with bodybuilding provided instant gratification. Such activities enabled individuals to see the immediate effect of working out. However, while these activities provided individuals with a way of developing a desirable sculpted body, they also resulted in distortions of self-image and their daily life, which, in turn, cause a deferral in engaging in typical mandated adult roles and, instead, focusing on the individual's role and position in their group of peers. However, I found that the dynamics and norms of the bodybuilding group did not condone or facilitate, risky behaviours associated with the use of illegal pharmaceuticals that carry significant health risks.
Body as an object of culture: Self-debilitating female power through diet chart
Undermine Female Body
Dieting is a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons. self-control is the main part of dieting. The medical institutions motivate women to participate on the basis of health. The media institution does the same with the image of an unreachable beauty. Media internalize multiple forces that surround the life of women. Media do not repress any natural femininity but create an idea of femininity. Because this is a construct, these forces have to find ways to maintain the ideal through reconstruction. Every reconstruction of femininity has us focusing on women's looks. This functions to support hegemonic masculinity and a patriarchal culture because it keeps women from participating in other activities. In this paper my endeavor is to analyze the gender inequality, celebrity diet chart, harmful effect of anorexia of 'size zero' body, diet chart of upcoming marriage particularly for women with the help of different feminist theories written by Susan bordo, Gilbert and Gubar and Helene Cixous. Furthermore, the theme of appearance versus reality is explored through various diet food and drinks such as dark chocolate, honey, lemon, green tea incorporating with ideological conflict. We will realize that focusing entirely on looks is time-consuming. If women consider their power to exist in how their body look and they respond to the rewards of that position they add to their own oppression, even if does not feel like it. Not
An Autoethnography of Bodybuilding, Visual Culture, Aesthetic Experience, and Performed Masculinity
The Journal of Visual Culture and Gender, 2014
This autoethnographic study examines the social history of bodybuilding along with personal testimonies of those with experience in weight training and bodybuilding in order to sharpen the awareness of aesthetic experiences found within the culture of physique. The author explores aesthetic experiences in both the formal and performative sense as frames for reflecting on his adolescent pursuits as an amateur bodybuilder in order to deconstruct the visual archetypes of bodybuilding and their impact on his formative notions of maleness.