Bodies of knowledge: Women, ethnopharmacology, and online space

Abstract

First paragraph: Muscles, gyms, and fitness have been historically associated with men and achieving normative masculinity (Thualagant, 2012). This has been underscored by research considering male bodybuilders and gendered motives for doping use, particularly the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) (Christiansen, 2009; Denham, 2008; Keane, 2005; Klein, 1993). Associations like these may also contribute to the view that image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) are used by a very narrow slice of the fitness population. However, use occurs among populations outside of bodybuilding, across multiple groups and contexts, including women. As a cultural expression, the gym and fitness clearly highlight the sculpting of the body. The ideal body shape, however, is not fixed and can change over time. For example, men’s bodies have been prized for being naturally or classically athletic forms, massive and vascular, and lean and fit – all over the course of about a century and in parallel with the development of gym and fitness culture (Andreasson & Johansson, 2020). Expectations and ideals around women’s bodies and fitness have shifted in other ways.