An introduction to the ethical and social problems of bodybuilding
A philosophical analysis from Science, Technology and Society studies (STS)
Abstract since the 20th century bodybuilding has been an object of study that interests and challenges researchers in the sociology of sport (see Conquet, 2014; Tajrobehkar, 2016; Wellman, 2020) and, recently, in the philosophy of sport (see Aranyosi, 2017; Madej, 2021; Worthen, 2016). However, many of its problems are little known in the orthodox philosophical literature. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to contribute from STS studies to the posing and discussion of the central ethical and social problems of bodybuilding by contributing to the philosophy of sport or the philosophy of body techniques. Therefore, I will plant the following problems in relation to bodybuilding: gender and sexism; racism, ableism and eugenics; and lastly, fatphobia. Finally, I propose that many of these problems are generated from the indiscriminate use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) within this sport subculture. In this sense, a precautionary framework (epistemic values, moral values, hormonal benefit principle and sports precautionary principle) is proposed from STS studies with the aim of regulating their use, avoiding adverse effects in individuals who are not professional bodybuilders.
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Aranyosi, I. (2017). Body, Skill, and look: is bodybuilding a sport? Springer Science + Business Media Dordrecht. DOI: 10.1007/s11097-017-9513-3.
Aoki, D. (1996). Sex and Muscle: the female bodybuilder meets Lacan. Body Society, 2(4), 59-74. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X96002004004
Baldwin, R. (2018). RETRACTED ARTICLE: Who are they to judge? Overcoming anthropometry through fat bodybuilding. Studies, 7:3, i-xiii. DOI: 10.1080/21604851.2018.1453622
Bridges, T. (2009). Gender capital and male bodybuilders. Body and society, 15(1), 83-107. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X08100148
Burke, M. (2001). Drug Taking, Bodybuilding and Sporting Women. Professional Ethics, a Multidisciplinary Journal, 9:3-4, 49-80.
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Conquet, R. (2014). Conversion to bodybuilding. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 1-16. DOI: 10.1177/1012690214557102.
Daley, C (2008). The strongman of eugenics, Eugen Sandow. Australian Historical Studies, 33(120), 233-248, DOI: 10.1080/10314610208596217
Dean, M. (2011). Visualizing Resistance: Foucauldian Ethics and the Female Body Builder. Phaenex, 6(1). DOI: 10.22329/p.v6i1.3152
Fair, J. (2003). Mr. America: Idealism or racism: Color consciousness and the AAU Mr. America contest, 1939-1982. Iron Game History, 8(1), 9-30.
Gavey, N. (1996). Women's bodybuilding: Feminist resistance and/or femininity's recuperation? . Body & Society, 2(4), 45-57. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X96002004003
Gaines, C. & Butler, G. (1974). Pumping Iron. The art and sport of Bodybuilding. New York: Simon and Schuster.
International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness. (2014). IFBB rules for bodybuilding and fitness: 2014 edition. Approved by the IFBB International Congress, November 15, 2014, Brasilia, Brazil. International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness.
Jefferson, T (1998). Muscle, ‘Hard Men’ and ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson: Reflections on Desire, Anxiety and the Embodiment of Masculinity. Body & Society, 4(1), 77 - 98. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X98004001005
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Law, S. W. L. (2021). Transgender trouble: gender transcendence in self-ethnographic genderqueer experience in Hong Kong. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 22(2), 196-214. DOI: 10.1080/14649373.2021.1927556.
Madej, K. (2021). Motivational bodybuilding videos as a component of discourse influencing perceptions of masculinities. Society Register, 5(1), 117-134. DOI: 10.14746/sr.2021.5.1.06
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Mosley, P. E. (2009). Bigorexia: Bodybuilding and Muscle Dysmorphia. European Eating Disorders Review, 17, no.3, 191-198. DOI: 10.1002/erv.897
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Williamson, D. (1994). The psychological effects of anabolic steroids. The International Journal of Drug Policy, 5(1), 18–22.
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Baker, S.
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Pushing Up on the Glass Ceiling of Female Muscularity: Women’s Bodybuilding as Edgework.
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10.1080/01639625.2015.1060741
Aoki, D. (1996). Sex and Muscle: the female bodybuilder meets Lacan. Body Society, 2(4), 59-74. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X96002004004
Baldwin, R. (2018). RETRACTED ARTICLE: Who are they to judge? Overcoming anthropometry through fat bodybuilding. Studies, 7:3, i-xiii. DOI: 10.1080/21604851.2018.1453622
Bridges, T. (2009). Gender capital and male bodybuilders. Body and society, 15(1), 83-107. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X08100148
Burke, M. (2001). Drug Taking, Bodybuilding and Sporting Women. Professional Ethics, a Multidisciplinary Journal, 9:3-4, 49-80.
Castelnuovo, S. (1998). Feminism and the female body: liberating the Amazon within. Boulder: L. Rienner Publishers. Edited by Sharon Ruth Guthrie.
Conquet, R. (2014). Conversion to bodybuilding. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 1-16. DOI: 10.1177/1012690214557102.
Daley, C (2008). The strongman of eugenics, Eugen Sandow. Australian Historical Studies, 33(120), 233-248, DOI: 10.1080/10314610208596217
Dean, M. (2011). Visualizing Resistance: Foucauldian Ethics and the Female Body Builder. Phaenex, 6(1). DOI: 10.22329/p.v6i1.3152
Fair, J. (2003). Mr. America: Idealism or racism: Color consciousness and the AAU Mr. America contest, 1939-1982. Iron Game History, 8(1), 9-30.
Gavey, N. (1996). Women's bodybuilding: Feminist resistance and/or femininity's recuperation? . Body & Society, 2(4), 45-57. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X96002004003
Gaines, C. & Butler, G. (1974). Pumping Iron. The art and sport of Bodybuilding. New York: Simon and Schuster.
International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness. (2014). IFBB rules for bodybuilding and fitness: 2014 edition. Approved by the IFBB International Congress, November 15, 2014, Brasilia, Brazil. International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness.
Jefferson, T (1998). Muscle, ‘Hard Men’ and ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson: Reflections on Desire, Anxiety and the Embodiment of Masculinity. Body & Society, 4(1), 77 - 98. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X98004001005
Jordi-Sánchez, M. (2014). El músculo negado. Placer artesano y relaciones socio-afectivas en el culturismo femenino. Gazeta de Antropología, 30(3). DOI: 10.30827/Digibug.33812
Klein, A. (1993). Little Big Men: Bodybuilding Subculture and Gender Construction. Albany:State University of New York Press..
Law, S. W. L. (2021). Transgender trouble: gender transcendence in self-ethnographic genderqueer experience in Hong Kong. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 22(2), 196-214. DOI: 10.1080/14649373.2021.1927556.
Madej, K. (2021). Motivational bodybuilding videos as a component of discourse influencing perceptions of masculinities. Society Register, 5(1), 117-134. DOI: 10.14746/sr.2021.5.1.06
Mauss, M. (1934). Techniques of the body. Journal de psychologie normal et pathologique, Paris, AnnCe XXXII, 1935, pp. 271-93. Reprinted in Marcel Mauss, Sociologie et Anthropologie, 4th edition, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1968. pp. 364-386.
Monaghan, L. (2001). Bodybuilding, Drugs and Risk. London and New York: Taylor and Francis Groups.
Monaghan, L. (1999). Creating ‘the perfect body’: A variable project. Body & Society, 5(2-3), 267. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X99005002015
Morton, M. (2004). Artificial Effemination. Philosophy in the Contemporary World, 11:1, 27-34.
Mosley, P. E. (2009). Bigorexia: Bodybuilding and Muscle Dysmorphia. European Eating Disorders Review, 17, no.3, 191-198. DOI: 10.1002/erv.897
Pope, H. and Katz, D. (1990). Homicide and near homicide by anabolic steroid users. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 51(1), 28-31.
Schilling, C and Bunsel, T. (2009). The female bodybuilder as a gender outlaw. Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, 1(2), 141-159. DOI: 10.1080/19398440902909009.
Schwarzenegger, A (1985). Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. Simon & Schuster paperbacks, New York.
Selvi, K. (2019). The dark side of bodybuilding: the role of bodybuilding activities in compensation of frustrated basic psychological needs. Springer Science + Business Media, DOIed. Joan Copjec. 15. : 10.1007/s11031-019-09805-6
Shepherdson, C. (1994). The Role of Gender and the Imperative of Sex, Supposing the Subject. ed. Joan Copjec. 15
Sparkes, A., Brighton, J. and Inckle, K. (2017). Imperfect perfection and wheelchair bodybuilding: challenging ableism or reproducing normalcy? Sociology. pp. 1-7. DOI: 10.1177/0038038517737476.
Stokvis, R. (2006). The Emancipation of Bodybuilding. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, 9(3), 463-479, DOI: 10.1080/17430430600673480.
Tajrobehkar, B. (2016). Flirting with the Judges: Bikini Fitness Competitors’ Negotiations of Femininity in Bodybuilding Competitions. Sociology of Sport Journal. Human Kinetics, Inc. DOI: 10.1123/ssj.2015-0152
Wellman, M..
(2020).
What it means to be a bodybuilder: social media influencer labor and the construction of identity in the bodybuilding subculture.
The Communication Review,
23.
–.
10.1080/10714421.2020.1829303
Williamson, D. (1994). The psychological effects of anabolic steroids. The International Journal of Drug Policy, 5(1), 18–22.
Worthen, M. &
Baker, S.
(2016).
Pushing Up on the Glass Ceiling of Female Muscularity: Women’s Bodybuilding as Edgework.
Deviant Behavior,
37.
1-25
–.
10.1080/01639625.2015.1060741
Cobo Martínez, S. (2024). An introduction to the ethical and social problems of bodybuilding: A philosophical analysis from Science, Technology and Society studies (STS). ArtefaCToS. Revista De Estudios Sobre La Ciencia Y La tecnología, 13(2), 249–272. https://doi.org/10.14201/art2024.31156
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