‘I put pressure on myself to keep that body’: ‘Health’-related body work, masculinities and embodied identity

Coffey, Julia

doi:10.1057/sth.2015.27

Cited by 27 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Relatedly, tattooing and AAS use have been identified as important parts of the ‘gym culture’ (Bhargava & Singh, ; Coffey, ; Gard, ; Monaghan, ; Sagoe et al ., ). Our findings that persons who always train in a gymnasium, and those who have used AAS at least once in their lifetime have higher odds of having at least one tattoo are in accord with such views.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and correlates of tattooing in Norway: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

Sagoe

Pallesen

Andreassen

2017

Scandinavian J Psychology

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To our knowledge, no previous large-scale study has examined the prevalences and correlates of having only easily concealed tattoos, or readily visible tattoos. We conducted an exploratory online survey in Norway asking 15,654 (6,151 females) persons aged 16-91 (m = 33.65 ± 12.27) about various demographic, sports, substance use, mental health, personality, and tattooing questions. The estimated prevalence of tattooing was 20.8% (females: 23.8%, males: 17.9%), of which 13.3% had readily visible tattoos. Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that females, being older than 19 years, higher body mass index, lifetime anabolic-androgenic steroid use (AAS), and higher scores on extraversion were associated with higher odds of having a tattoo. Factors associated with higher odds of having only easily concealed tattoos were being 40-49 (versus those ≤ 19) years old, being only high school or tertiary (versus being only primary school) educated, often or not (versus always) exercising in a gymnasium, and high scores on agreeableness. Females, and higher scores on extraversion and neuroticism were associated with higher odds of having at least one readily visible tattoo. Our findings delineate the significance of demographic variables, gymnasium exercise, AAS, and personality in the practice of tattooing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and correlates of tattooing in Norway: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

Sagoe

Pallesen

Andreassen

2017

Scandinavian J Psychology

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“…The emergence of new arenas of social relationships on a global scale creates new patterns of "doing" masculinity (Connell 2015;Coffey 2016;Grogan and Richards 2002;Griffiths 2015;Norman 2011). These populations and their diasporas are involved in a constant exchange of ideas about bodily presentation, male hairstyling, care regimes surrounding the body, and the like (Gimeno 2015).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As will be seen in this article, we understood that the complex negotiations around the meanings assigned to masculinity occur in the flow of everyday life (Coffey 2016) and that there are different ways of "doing" masculinity. Masculinity can be presented as a space for resistance and action but sometimes for exchange and for participation within the target culture (Connell 2015;Coles 2008;Jensen 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

Doing Masculinity

Pérez

Salgado

2018

Men and Masculinities

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The aim of this article is to engage with unaccompanied migrant Maghrebi boys' styles of physical self-presentation, "looks," and hairstyles as a source of knowledge on the construction of masculinities. In order to observe such bodily expressive practices, we used general ethnographic methodology and, in particular, a workshop built around different artistic techniques. Since masculinity is inextricably defined in relation to specific agents and contexts, insights into unaccompanied migrant teenagers' enactments of masculinity are dependent on (1) the collective imagination lying behind such "looks" and bodily images, (2) the discomfort and tensions created in the institutional communities in which these minors live-especially among social workers, and (3) the dialogue and relationships that emerge between the aesthetic and bodily expressions of these young migrants' own culture and those of the other cultural groups that coexist, in our case, in a European city.

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“…Future research could also consider how women see the continuation of their bodywork. Given the sense of security that body projects can provide, they may remain central to an individual's identity and, thus, exploring how women (with high DFM) perceive the continuation of their selected body control strategy is pertinent (Coffey 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Searching for ontological security: women’s experiences leading to high drive for muscularity

Edwards

Molnár

Tod

2021

Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health

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Women with high levels of drive for muscularity (DFM) may display what could be perceived as non-normative corporeal desires because their commitment to muscle may contrast Western societal expectations of femininity. Little, however, is known about women's experiences with high levels of DFM. Thus, we explored the stories of women with high DFM and disclose the socio-cultural and personal influences shaping this desire. In-depth lifehistory interviews were undertaken with 10 females who had extreme scores on the Drive for Muscularity Scale. Participants' stories focused on a set of early social interactions, in which they were exposed to dominant social narratives of femininity. As a result, they felt pressured to comply with contemporary appearance-related gender norms. Such pressures often manifested in situations where their body was perceived to be outside of gendered contours. Participants' narratives also identified the lack of control they had over their circumstances. In turn, participants revealed that they developed a strong desire to gain control over their situation and, as a result, they responded by 'tightly controlling' and shaping their corporeal self as per gendered expectations. However, through a range of problematic moments (e.g. relationship breakdowns), participants' gendered ontological security became unsettled. Consequently, these disruptions prompted them to reconsider their relationship to embodiment and its connection to their circumstances. This realisation led to the emergence of a muscularity-focused coping strategy eventually leading to high levels of DFM. Findings reveal that, similar to men, women in this study also use muscle to cope with and negotiate life events.

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‘I put pressure on myself to keep that body’: ‘Health’-related body work, masculinities and embodied identity

Cited by 27 publications

References 70 publications

Prevalence and correlates of tattooing in Norway: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

Prevalence and correlates of tattooing in Norway: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

Doing Masculinity

Searching for ontological security: women’s experiences leading to high drive for muscularity

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