ABSTRACT
Bodybuilding, similar to tattooing and scarification, has been associated with ‘the improper, thedark side, the underworld, the demonic’ (Young 1993: xx, cited by Pitts 1998: 70). Moreover, many bodybuilders qua reflexive body-subjects know, and can articulate upon the fact, that there exists a common negative reaction to them. One successful competitor remarked: ‘People look at you as though you have two heads. You’ve got thecomments, “he’sa steroid freak, he’s a steroidmonster, uuggh, it looks sick, disgusting”’ (Interview: Respondent 21). What may therefore seem puzzling is that ‘bodybuilder’ is not a given but a chosen identity, the result of individuals freely adopting to lead their lives (and construct their bodies) in particular ways. If elective bodybuilding ‘spoils’ the aesthetics, health and moral integrity of the embodied self then an obvious question presents itself: ‘are bodybuilders irrational?’
