title: Vulnerable discipline: experiences of male competitive bodybuilders.
abstract: The aim was to understand experiences of male competitive bodybuilders from a non-pathologizing perspective. Six male Norwegian competitive bodybuilders were interviewed. The interviews were analysed using a meaning condensation procedure resulting in five themes: being proud of capacity for discipline, seeing a perfectionist attitude as a necessary evil, experiencing recognition within the bodybuilding community, being stigmatized outside the bodybuilding community and going on stage to display a capacity for willpower and discipline. We suggest that bodybuilders may be stigmatized for breaking social norms: by their distinctive appearance, by the way they handle suspected drug use and by challenging gender norms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Jone
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bjørnestad
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Øyvind
authors.initials: Ø
authors.lastname: Kandal
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway norman.anderssen@psysp.uib.no.
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anderssen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D055070:Resistance Training; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hermeneutics; bodybuilding; gender; phenomenology; stigmatization