Images of (Ab)Users

Abstract

Starting from the general historical and sociocultural framework of fitness doping, and the national variations discussed in previous chapters contextualizing the book’s focus, this chapter allows the reader to become acquainted with some of the participants who have contributed their stories. Through some highly personal portraits, we will outline a number of user trajectories. Here, we address the diverse ways in which our selected fitness dopers have come to approach doping, understanding their use in relation to body, gender, and health. In the portraits presented, we will frame the narratives in relation to the challenges and structural conditions users meet in their everyday life and in doing so initiate a discussion on fitness doping identities, trajectories as well as typologies.