Omniprésence des clichés?
Several American and Australian studies, among others, had also identified problematic behavior on the part of creators of fitness and bodybuilding content on the networks. This ranges from the promotion of eating disorders or excessive exercise to the sexualization and “body shaming” of Internet users.
On the CSA side, nothing of the sort was observed among the selected sample (10 content creators, five men and five women). “We did not find any comments that encourage very restrictive diets or excessive sports practice.“, confirms Emma Puma, the researcher behind the report. “This is generally rather positive compared to these other studies.“
This does not mean, however, that all content produced is impeccable. “There is a sort of omnipresence of clichés, particularly in terms of genre“, says the researcher. She observes”quite similar physiques“, with the upper body more developed in men, where the glutes and thighs are particularly developed in women. This also goes hand in hand with a certain paradox. “Among designers, this implicit adherence to traditional body ideals coexists with a discourse encouraging well-being, acceptance of oneself and one’s body. The message of kindness is caught in the injunction to optimize one’s body“, according to certain imposed standards, notably by gendered clichés.
Fitness and the art of business
The study also highlights that “the body obviously takes a particularly important place“This is of course not surprising.”This is both the subject of the content, but their muscular bodies will also legitimize their advice and their expertise: the body becomes proof that with the advice and by purchasing their programs, we will have the same results“, develops Emma Puma.
Because there is a whole economic aspect which is important. The study highlights that seven of the ten content creators observed “market their own sports program or offer a personalized coaching offer“. And this, even though the majority (6/10) have no training in the field of sport. And in addition to their program, half of the profiles “collaborates with at least one brand active in the field of fitness and bodybuilding“, mainly clothing or food supplements. If the ethical aspect can be questioned, the CSA is especially concerned by the fact that “advertising content is rarely identified as such“.
Fitness influence therefore has many faults. If everything is not to be thrown away and few dangerous practices have been identified, it is nonetheless important to remain lucid and critical in the face of risks of deviation that may emerge.
