Fit for Two? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Oxygen Fitness Magazine
in Sociology of Sport JournalBy purchasing this content you agree and accept the terms and conditions
In this article, Foucault’s notions of disciplinary power and biopower are used in examining representations of pregnancy, fitness, and health in “Fit for Two,” a tips column for new and expectant mothers in Oxygen magazine. The neoliberal emphasis on personal responsibility for health has found a “fertile” home in the column. Medical discourse encouraging individual risk management (i.e., moderate exercise for a healthy pregnancy) and discourses promoting feminine bodily norms are combined with advertisements for pregnancy-related health products to suggest that a woman can transform herself into a “fit” mother through appropriate disciplinary and consumer practices. The article concludes with a discussion of the way in which the pregnant body remains a site of control in contemporary Western society.
Jette is with the School of Human Kinetics, University of British Columbia, 210 War Memorial Gym, Vancouver, British Columbia.
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