The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Firm but Shapely, Fit but Sexy, Strong but Thin: The Postmodern Aerobicizing Female Bodies
Abstract
This paper aims to reconstruct the cultural dialogue surrounding the female body image in aerobics. To do this I have used several methods: ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and media analysis. I found that the media ideal is a contradiction: firm but shapely, fit but sexy, strong but thin. Likewise, women’s relationships with the media image are contradictory: They struggle to obtain the ideal body, but they also find their battles ridiculous. I interpret my findings from a Foucaultian perspective to show how the discourse surrounding the female body image is part of a complex use of power over women in postmodern consumer society. In addition, I assume a feminist perspective that assigns an active role to the individual aerobicizers to question the power arrangement.
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Citations
Cited by
Flintoff, A., & Scraton, S. (2001) · Sport, Education and Society · doi:10.1080/713696043 · Cited by 361
“Fitspiration” on social media: a content analysis of gendered images
Carrotte, E. R., Prichard, I., & Lim, M. S. C. (2017) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.6368 · Cited by 278
Raggatt, M., Wright, C. J. C., Carrotte, E., Jenkinson, R., Mulgrew, K., Prichard, I., & Lim, M. S. C. (2018) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5930-7 · Cited by 239
“In order to achieve this athletic-ideal body, individuals may be required to practice greater dietary restriction and engage in high intensity exercise regimes [10].”
BackgroundThe Technologies of the Self: Sport, Feminism, and Foucault
Markula, P. (2003) · Sociology of Sport Journal · doi:10.1123/ssj.20.2.87 · Cited by 238
Self-citationTHEBERGE, N. (1997) · Gender & Society · doi:10.1177/089124397011001005 · Cited by 153
Metadata
- Authors
- Markula, P.
- Venue
- Sociology of Sport Journal
- Publisher
- Human Kinetics
- Published
- 1995-12
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 424-453
- ISSN
- 0741-1235 (ISSN-L)
- 1543-2785
- OpenAlex
- W38832680
- Cited by
- 399
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 6.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Markula, P. (1995). Firm but Shapely, Fit but Sexy, Strong but Thin: The Postmodern Aerobicizing Female Bodies. Sociology of Sport Journal. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.12.4.424
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
