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Reconceptualising the Gender of Fitness Doping: Performing and Negotiating Masculinity through Drug-Use Practices

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  • Jesper Andreasson

    (Department of Sport Science, Linnaeus University, Kalmar SE-391 82, Sweden)

Abstract

This article analyses self-portrayals and gender constructions among Swedish male bodybuilders who are engaged in fitness doping. The empirical material comes from a larger ethnographic investigation into gym culture. The results show that there is a strong propensity to conform with particular gender fantasies that rests heavily on a binary understanding of gendered, doped bodies. However, this storyline does not apprehend the entire self-presentation of the analysed drug users. Negotiations and inclusive subversions of traditional gender norms are also expressed. For example, the narratives show how the use of performance-enhancing substances makes it possible for (heterosexual) men to approach, touch and express feelings of desire towards other men and their bodies. As such, this practice can be viewed as a contestation of hegemonic gender values, in which masculinity and fitness doping are detached from a quite heterosexist understanding, and turned into a symbolic world of homoerotic pleasure.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesper Andreasson, 2015. "Reconceptualising the Gender of Fitness Doping: Performing and Negotiating Masculinity through Drug-Use Practices," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-17, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:4:y:2015:i:3:p:546-562:d:53810
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jesper Andreasson & Thomas Johansson, 2013. "Female Fitness in the Blogosphere," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440134, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fraser, Suzanne & Fomiatti, Renae & Moore, David & Seear, Kate & Aitken, Campbell, 2020. "Is another relationship possible? Connoisseurship and the doctor–patient relationship for men who consume performance and image-enhancing drugs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).

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