Journal article
The myth of femininity in the sport of bodysculpting
Social Alternatives, Vol.33(2), pp.36-42
2014
Abstract
Women with muscular bodies have long been objects of public scrutiny and social contempt. Critical to the problematic of the muscular woman is the question of how femininity fits on a female body that is strong. The muscular woman is said to occupy spaces outside of accepted gender binaries because she challenges the assumption that men are naturally masculine and that women are naturally feminine. This article highlights the fraught and complex project of becoming a woman with muscle. It argues that femininity denaturalises the muscular female body by demanding feminine comportment and spatiality. To highlight the contradictory relationship between muscle and femininity, it examines the sport of bodysculpting. Bodysculpting generates problematic meanings for its participants. The idea of femininity as central to 'womanliness' dictates values that become continuous with women's experiences of their bodies and in the end with their own ideas about who they think they are.
Details
- Title
- The myth of femininity in the sport of bodysculpting
- Authors
- Jamilla Rosdahl (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and Business
- Publication details
- Social Alternatives, Vol.33(2), pp.36-42
- Publisher
- Social Alternatives
- Date published
- 2014
- ISSN
- 0155-0306
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2014 Social Alternatives. Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99448820302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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