Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Fontbona, I. (2023)

Bodybuilding as a Gender Norm Defier: Shredding the Binary Materiality while Rewriting Bodies through Bodybuilding

Article in monograph or in proceedings

This paper presents a peculiar approach of escaping the dual gender-identity conceptualization, using bodybuilding—which is both a sports and corporeal practice—as a tool to shatter gender stereotypes. The bodies that are trans-formed as a result of this practice will be analysed and interpreted as a way to develop a relevant distinction between those bodies that are objectified on stage, due to the sport’s regulations, and those bodies that are located within an artistic and activist frame as “critical flesh.” This analysis looks at the bodies of three artists involved in the practice of bodybuilding to develop their artworks in order to discuss whether or not this corporeal identity built through muscle de-velopment creates a split in the gender discourse and in the expectations that this discourse generates. This approach is developed through the visual and conceptual support from the following artists: Cassils [they/them] (Canada-USA), Francesca Steele [they/them] (UK), and the...Show moreThis paper presents a peculiar approach of escaping the dual gender-identity conceptualization, using bodybuilding—which is both a sports and corporeal practice—as a tool to shatter gender stereotypes. The bodies that are trans-formed as a result of this practice will be analysed and interpreted as a way to develop a relevant distinction between those bodies that are objectified on stage, due to the sport’s regulations, and those bodies that are located within an artistic and activist frame as “critical flesh.” This analysis looks at the bodies of three artists involved in the practice of bodybuilding to develop their artworks in order to discuss whether or not this corporeal identity built through muscle de-velopment creates a split in the gender discourse and in the expectations that this discourse generates. This approach is developed through the visual and conceptual support from the following artists: Cassils [they/them] (Canada-USA), Francesca Steele [they/them] (UK), and the author of this paper [she/her].Show less

All authors

Fontbona, I.

Date

2023

Title of host publication

LUCAS Graduate Journal

Volume

10

Pages

32 - 62