ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the gendered dimensions of aesthetic body work practices. Drawing on data from a qualitative study of young people's body work practices, it examines the aesthetic body work practices of muscle-building and cosmetic surgery. The chapter describes the concepts of affect, assemblage and becoming to understand the aesthetically motivated practices of muscle-building and cosmetic surgery. 'Body work' refer to all forms of bodily labour such as caring and welfare industries and domestic labour. The term body work describes work performed on one's own body that connects to aesthetic modifications or maintenance of the body. The practices of muscle-building and cosmetic surgery aim to sketch possibilities for how Deleuzian concepts can be mobilized in empirical research in the field of physical cultural studies. Body work practices and broader understandings of health and gender were explored in-depth with men and women aged 18–33 in Melbourne, Australia.
