Men, bodywork, health and the potentiality of performance and image-enhancing drugs

ABSTRACT

In a qualitative study on masculinity, embodiment and sexuality, we interviewed men who were recreational gym-goers about their bodywork practices in Melbourne, Australia. We also asked whether the men had used performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) as an adjunct to their bodywork practices. While none had used PIEDs, all were considering, or had considered, using them. We found that participants held varying opinions on PIED use and those who used them. The literature on PIEDs noted men’s concerns with body appearance and health and focused largely on individual problematic use, but non-users were not mentioned. A second issue in the literature focused on social influences on PIED use, but again with no mention of non-users. Discussion on risk reduction as a public health response did not mention non-users either. This paper, therefore, reports on non-users’ thoughts on, regular exposure to, and considerations of PIEDs and other men who use them. We propose that PIEDs might more usefully be understood as an everyday, if contradictory, consideration within most men’s bodywork and health practices. We argue that PIEDs constitute a discursive practice exposing a potentiality that engages non-users also and this requires new health promotion approaches.

KEYWORDS:

• Men’s health
• performance and image-enhancing drugs
• bodywork
• health promotion

Acknowledgements

We thank Andrew Westle and Wendy Heywood for research assistance. We also thank the men and women who volunteered to be participants in this study for their contribution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by the Australian Research Council Discovery Grants program (DP150103666).