Abstract
This paper examines the logic and process of a certain person's becoming a bodybuilder and devotion to bodybuilding. While previous studies have reported the devotion of bodybuilders to bodybuilding [Klein 1993; Wacquant 1995; Brown 1999], the dynamics that lead to such devotion have not been adequately examined. Therefore, this paper aims to clarify the logic and process of a certain person's devotion to bodybuilding by focusing on the transformation of the physical dimension of the bodybuilder's existence, especially the physical experience.
The results are as follows. First, the respondents in the study became bodybuilders driven by the belief that “muscles do not betray you”.
Second, as they started with bodybuilding, they began to monitor the reactions of their bodies in order to make their muscles bigger and to discipline their daily lives in accordance with these reactions. In here, the body came to function as a transcendental other that provided absolute norms for daily lives, and it was inferred that in the above process, the respondents became devoted to bodybuilding.
Third, the above-mentioned bodybuilders' practice of discipline creates norms of value and conduct in an uncertain reality where there are no absolute guidelines, and thereby creates a firm meaning and purpose in the life of the respondents. This logic, in which the more one devotes oneself to bodybuilding, the more the meaning of one's life become clear and certain, can be inferred to be the logic behind a certain person's devotion to bodybuilding.
