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Instrumentalization of the body in sports
Dalarna University, School of Humanities and Media Studies, Philosophy.
2013 (English)In: Idrottsforum.org/Nordic sport science forum, ISSN 1652-7224, Vol. nov 18Article in journal (Other academic) Published
Abstract [en]

The aim of this paper is to articulate an implicit conceptualization of the body of sport persons that exists besides the official holistic and health-based understanding of mind and body. Sport, besides being a guardian of positive values, also is also associated with an instrumentalization of the body consisting of a cluster of mutually interdependent conceptualizations of the body: Firstly, an optimization where athletes’ are focusing upon optimizing their bodies to perform sport performances. Secondly, an idea of perfectedness in that this optimization rests upon the idea of being as perfect as possible for doing specific sport related tasks. Thirdly, modifiability in that body in sport is understood as a “raw material” that can and ought to be “cultivated” for satisfying this perfectedness ideal in sport. Fourthly, control in that there is a need of constant surveillance of sportspersons’ bodies. Fifthly, a strict division between body and mind, where sportpersons are rational subjects who should use their mechanic bodies in trying to reach their aims. This implicit understanding of body is problematic in that (i) it, to some extent, resembles attitudes involved in anorexia nervousa, and that these attitudes, if not consciously discussed, are negative for the sport community itself as well as for the society at large. Furthermore, it might be that sports community, due to the idea of instrumentalization of body in sport, is strengthening negative attitudes towards people who do not live up to the ideal healthy body, for instance persons with obesity and overweight.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö högskola , 2013. Vol. nov 18
Keywords [en]
Instrumentalization, Sport, Body
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
Research subject
Research Profiles 2009-2020, Intercultural Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-13325OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-13325DiVA, id: diva2:667653
Available from: 2013-11-27 Created: 2013-11-27 Last updated: 2021-11-12Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • chicago-author-date
  • chicago-note-bibliography
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf