Bodies, gender, and digital affect in fitspiration media

ABSTRACT

This paper takes an affective approach to theorizing the production and circulation of fitspiration media within a women’s Instagram fitness community. In the context of fitness culture trends towards digitally networked, interactive, and quantified experiences, our study contributes to debates about the impacts of fitspiration media on women by investigating the expressions, feelings, and connections that arise through the self-presentation and circulation of “fit” body images on social media. We analyze 155 Instagram posts containing the hashtags #BBG, #thekaylamovement, #kaylasarmy, and #bbggirls to map the ways in which feelings are communicated by followers of a popular global fitness community led by celebrity influencer Kayla Itsines. In so doing, we reveal the ways in which intensities of feeling experienced in, through and about the body (i.e., pride, vulnerability, shame) work affectively to connect and compel exercising women.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• Instagram
• gender
• fitspiration
• affect

Acknowledgments

We extend our sincere thanks to Professor Ann Pegoraro (Laurentian University, CA) for data collection assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kim Toffoletti

Kim Toffoletti is Associate Professor of Sociology at Deakin University (Australia). Her research examines women’s experiences of sport and leisure, with a focus on media representations, sports fandom, and women’s use of social media for sport and physical activity. Recent books include Women Sport Fans: Identification, Participation, Representation (2017, Routledge) and the co-edited volume (with H.Thorpe and J.Francombe-Webb) New Sporting Femininities: Embodied Politics in Postfeminist Times (2018, Palgrave). Kim also serves as associate editor of Sociology of Sport Journal. E-mail: [email protected]

Holly Thorpe

Holly Thorpe is a Professor in Te Huataki Waiora / School of Health, Sport and Human Performance at the University of Waikato. She works in the field of the sociology of sport, with research interests including feminist theory, qualitative methods, gender, action sports, and youth culture. Holly has published over 70 articles and chapters on these topics, and is the author of various books and co-edited collections, including New Sporting Femininities (2018), and Sport, Physical Culture and the Moving Body (2020). E-mail: [email protected]