[Body cult and use of anabolic steroids by bodybuilders].
This study focused on the reasons for practicing bodybuilding and the use of anabolic steroids, as well as the social representations and uses of the body among bodybuilding steroid users. This ethnographic study involved participant observation in middle and lower-class bodybuilding gyms in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil, and 43 in-depth interviews with steroid users. Aesthetic reasons are the main motivation for bodybuilding and steroid use in both middle and lower-class users. Dissatisfaction with one's real body as compared to the ideal standard flaunted by the mass media, fear of being devalued or shunned by one's peer groups, the symbolic capital associated with a 'pumped-up' body, and the sense of immediacy in obtaining results all contributed to steroid use. Preventive campaigns are needed, targeting young people and combining a critical view and deconstruction of the values assigned to the body by consumer society, counteracted by high-quality information on the health risks associated with anabolic steroid use.
Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brasil. iriart@ufba.br
Jorge Alberto Bernstein
JA
Iriart
José Carlos
JC
Chaves
Roberto Ghignone de
RG
Orleans
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001828:Body Image; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
D045930:Anabolic Agents