Male bodybuilders on Instagram: negotiating inclusive masculinities through hegemonic masculine bodies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gender is performative and embodied. This is especially apparent when we consider activities such as male bodybuilding, through which men pursue very muscular, hyper-masculine bodies. In this article, we examine the hybridized masculinities practised by male bodybuilders on the objectifying, image-based social media website, Instagram. Contrary to past research, which has almost exclusively characterized male bodybuilders as hegemonically masculine, we reveal ways in which male bodybuilders practise inclusive masculinities on Instagram through emotional expressiveness, emotional intimacy with other men, and extreme self-objectification. We attribute these inclusive masculinities to the cultural movement towards softer masculine ideals, which has been argued to challenge male hegemony. However, we also demonstrate how male bodybuilders continue to project hegemonic masculine dominance, mental strength, and socioeconomic success on Instagram through representations of their lean and muscular bodies. We argue that these hegemonic masculine embodiments operate as forms of ‘hegemonic masculine negotiation’, in that they function to counteract, or compensate for, the inclusive masculinities practised by the male bodybuilders in our study. Our findings demonstrate contemporary ways in which the hegemonic function of dominant masculinities can adjust to, and endure in spite of, the cultural changes that threaten it.