Abstract
This article is part of a larger investigation looking into recent changes in the demographics of fitness doping and the possible consequences of such changes. Contesting the historical alliance between masculinity and fitness doping, the article focuses on women’s narratives and experiences of fitness doping in a male-dominated open online community called Flashback. The article builds upon a qualitative and netnographic approach to the research. Employing the lens of the potential emergence of a woman-based ethnopharmacological culture, this article investigates the ways in which women talk about and rationalise their use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PEIDs), their potency and potential gendered side-effects. The results show that although fitness doping can be largely understood in terms of hegemonic patterns, women have gained ground in the context of online fitness doping, heralding a changing doping demography and a movement towards a ‘sis science’ ethnopharmacology. Although critiqued by men, the context enables women to freely discuss harm reduction, risks and the potential potencies of various drugs, and to share knowledge that is relevant to female biology and discuss their own experiences, an activity that also makes visible the negotiation of new gender positions.
Highlights
Due to technological development in recent decades, it is not surprising that different forms of online communities and forums have become arenas that encourage sensitive content to be expressed, without compromising confidentiality (Adler and Adler 2011; Smith and Stewart 2012)
Several studies have shown how people have constructed a myriad of online communities that enable them to interact with others while learning about different illicit substances, such as performance and image enhancing drugs (PEIDs), their effects, and the risks associated with their use (Belenko et al 2009; Murguía et al 2007)
What is being described here is a form of ethnopharmacological subculture infused with gendered understandings, where predominantly male users interact with one another and share their experiences of using drugs, drug side-effects, courses of drugs, risks associated with drug use, and more, while expressing distrust of medical experts and authorities, who are perceived as lacking real first-hand specialist knowledge
Summary
Due to technological development in recent decades, it is not surprising that different forms of online communities and forums have become arenas that encourage sensitive content to be expressed, without compromising confidentiality (Adler and Adler 2011; Smith and Stewart 2012). Having studied the social mechanisms involved in online community trust, Bilgrei 2018, for example, shows how community members’ reported personal experience of drug use may form the basis of drug-using lifestyles and experiential learning among online community members. This is referred to as ‘broscience’, a portmanteau of ‘brother’ and ‘science’, which concerns the knowledge that is maintained, contested and passed on by users Boosted by an increasing preoccupation with body image issues among both men and women (Cash and Pruzinsky 2002), women have gradually entered the realm of fitness doping (Grogan et al 2004; McGrath and Chananie-Hill 2009; Jespersen 2012; Van Hout and Hearne 2016). Due to the widespread availability of PIEDs and their growing prevalence among mainstream fitness groups, including women, it is possible to talk about an emergent public health issue (Van Hout and Hearne 2016; Christiansen 2018).
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