Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Female Fitness Doping

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Fitness Doping

Abstract

Women’s muscle-building has long been considered a threat to the ‘natural’ gender order. This applies particularly to women’s gender boundary-crossing into the realm of muscular masculinity, through drug use practices and bodybuilding. On the basis of qualitatively gathered interview material and data from various postings on a pro-doping online community, in this chapter we describe and analyze how female fitness dopers understand and negotiate their use in relation to gender and the body. The chapter is positioned within post-structural feminism, and the results show that there is an increasing amount of knowledge in the area of fitness doping that not only targets women, but has also been developed by and for women concerning. Traditionally, scholars have connected female drug use more or less exclusively to female bodybuilders, but as new body and femininity ideals develop, the demographics of female fitness doping are broadening. Although fitness doping remains primarily a masculine domain, the results reveal a development in which women are increasingly being invited to join and becoming more integrated into a fitness community of drug users.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Andreasson, J. (2015). Reconceptualising the gender of fitness doping: Reconceptualising the gender of fitness doping—Performing and negotiating masculinity through drug-use practices. Social Sciences, 4, 546–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andreasson, J., & Johansson, T. (2014). The global gym: Gender, health and pedagogies. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, D. (1996). Sex and muscle: The female bodybuilder meets Lacan. Body & Society, 4, 59–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, J. S., Graham, M. R., & Davies, B. (2006). Steroid and prescription medicine abuse in the health and fitness community: A regional study. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 17(7), 479–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boepple, L., Ata, R. N., Rum, R., & Thompson, K. (2016). Strong is the new skinny: A content analysis of fitspiration websites. Body Image, 17, 132–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolin, A., & Granskog, J. (2003). Athletic intruders: Ethnographic research on women, culture, and exercise. New York, NY: State University of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, L. (2005). Flexing the tensions of female muscularity: How female bodybuilders negotiate normative femininity in competitive bodybuilding. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 33(1–2), 134–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breivik, G., Hanstad, D. V., & Loland, S. (2009). Attitudes towards the use of performance-enhancing substances and body modification techniques: A comparison between elite athletes and the general population. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, 12(6), 737–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunsell, T. (2013). Strong and hard women: An ethnography of female bodybuilding. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of “sex”. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christiansen, A. V. (2018). Motionsdoping: Styrketræning, identitet og kultur [Recreational doping: Strength training, identity and culture]. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denham, B. E. (2008). Masculinities in hardcore bodybuilding. Men and Masculinities, 11(2), 234–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans-Brown, M., & McVeigh, J. (2009). Anabolic steroid use in the general population of the United Kingdom. In V. Møller, M. McNamee, & P. Dimeo (Eds.), Elite sport, doping and public health (pp. 75–97). Odense, Denmark: University Press of Southern Denmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fair, J. D. (1999). Muscletown USA: Bob Hoffman and the manly culture of York Barbell. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, A., Austin, S., Camargo, C., Taylor, C. B., Striegel-Moore, R. H., Loud, K. J. & Colditz, G. A. (2005). Exposure to the mass media, body shape concerns, and use of supplements to improve weight and shape among male and female adolescents. Pediatrics, 116(2), 214–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffet, J. (2000). The path chosen by female bodybuilders: A tentative interpretation. Sociology of Sport Journal, 17, 130–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grogan, S. (2006). Body image and health: Contemporary perspectives. Journal of Health Psychology, 11(4), 523–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grogan, S., Evans, R., Wright, S., & Hunter, G. (2004). Femininity and muscularity: Accounts of seven women body builders. Journal of Gender Studies, 13(1), 49–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haraway, D. (1990). A Manifesto for cyborgs: Science, technology and socialist feminism in the 1980’s. In L. J. Nicholson (Ed.), Feminism/postmodernism. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill Collins, P. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • IFBB. (2018). Our disciplines. Retrieved March 10, 2018, from https://ifbb.com/our-disciplines/.

  • Jespersen, M. R. (2012). “Definitely not for women”: An online community’s reflections on women’s use of performance enhancing drugs. In J. Tolleneer, S. Sterckz, & P. Bonte (Eds.), Athletic enhancement, human nature and ethics: Threats and opportunities of doping technologies (pp. 201–218). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, A. (1993). Little big men: Bodybuilding, subculture and gender construction. New York: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, C. (1996). Bodybuilding: A postmodern freak show. In R. G. Thomson (Ed.), Freakery: Cultural spectacles of the extraordinary body. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liokaftos, D. (2018). Natural bodybuilding: An account of its emergence and development as competition sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sports (Online), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malcolm, N. L. (2000). Constructing female athleticism: A study of girls’ recreational softball. American Behavioral Scientist, 46(10), 1304–1387.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, S., & Chananie-Hill, R. (2009). ‘Big Freaky-Looking Women’: Normalizing gender transgression through bodybuilding. Sociology of Sport Journal, 26, 235–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monaghan, L. (2001). Bodybuilding, drugs and risk: Health, risk and society. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monaghan, L. F. (2012). Accounting for illicit steroid use: Bodybuilders’ justifications. In A. Locks & N. Richardson (Eds.), Critical readings in bodybuilding (pp. 73–90). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, S., Gorrow, T. R., & Schneider, S. R. (2009). Enhancing appearance and sports performance: Are female collegiate athletes behaving more like males? Journal of American College Health, 57(5), 513–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, N. (2008). Flex-rated! Female bodybuilding: Feminist resistance or erotic spectacle? Journal of Gender Studies, 17(4), 289–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roussel, P., Monaghan, L., Javerlhiac, S., & Yondre, F. (2010). The metamorphosis of female bodybuilders: Judging a paroxysmal body? International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45(1), 103–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sagoe, D., Andreassen, C. S., & Pallesen, S. (2014). The aetiology and trajectory of anabolic-androgenic steroid use initiation: A systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 9, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597x-9-27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassatelli, R. (2010). Fitness culture: Gyms and the commercialisation of discipline and fun. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. C. T., & Stewart, B. (2012). Body perceptions and health behaviors in an online bodybuilding community. Qualitative Health Research, 22(7), 971–985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Swedish Doping Act. (1991:1969). Dopningslagen. Stockholm, Sweden: Svensk författningssamling SFS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thualagant, N. (2012). The conceptualization of fitness doping and its limitations. Sport in society: Cultures, commerce, media, politics, 15(3), 409–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Hout, M. C., & Hearne, E. (2016). Netnography of female use of the synthetic growth hormone CJC-1295: Pulses and potions. Substance Use and Misuse, 51(1), 73–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sport Science, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden

    Jesper Andreasson

  2. Department of Education, Communication and Learning, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Thomas Johansson

Authors
  1. Jesper Andreasson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas Johansson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jesper Andreasson .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Andreasson, J., Johansson, T. (2020). Female Fitness Doping. In: Fitness Doping. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22105-8_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22105-8_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22104-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22105-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation