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Labour and Industry
A journal of the social and economic relations of work
Volume 22, 2011 - Issue 1-2
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In Honour of Craig Littler

PHYSICAL CAPITAL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR FITNESS WORKERS IN QUEENSLAND

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Pages 5-24 | Published online: 10 Apr 2013
 

Abstract

Sexual, social and employment success have been linked to the physical capital drawn from having aesthetic attributes of the socially idealised body. In certain workplace settings, such as health and fitness centres, the body becomes a mainstream commodity with physical capital affording the fitness worker a high degree of distinction and adoration as well as employment opportunities. The employment relationship is shaped by ‘lookism’, with both the employer and employee taking advantage of the fitness worker's idealised form. The worker's physical capital provides a walking billboard advertising the employer's products and services, while exposure to comparison and adoration provides a heightened sense of self-worth, distinction and celebrity. Fitness workers appear to be prepared to ignore poor employment conditions or trade-off standard entitlements for the alternative rewards that their physical capital brings.

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