Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2010

Fitness Culture

Gyms and the Commercialisation of Discipline and Fun

Palgrave Macmillan

Part of the book series: Consumption and Public Life (CUCO)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
  2. The Cultural Location of Fitness Gyms

    • Roberta Sassatelli
    Pages 17-41
  3. Spatiality and Temporality

    • Roberta Sassatelli
    Pages 42-66
  4. Interaction and Relational Codes

    • Roberta Sassatelli
    Pages 67-96
  5. Framing Fitness

    • Roberta Sassatelli
    Pages 97-119
  6. Discipline and Fun

    • Roberta Sassatelli
    Pages 120-143
  7. The Culture of the Fit Body

    • Roberta Sassatelli
    Pages 144-167
  8. Fit Bodies, Strong Selves

    • Roberta Sassatelli
    Pages 168-198
  9. Back Matter

    Pages 208-236

About this book

This book provides a sociological perspective on fitness culture as developed in commercial gyms, investigating the cultural relevance of gyms in terms of the history of the commercialization of body discipline, the negotiation of gender identities and distinction dynamics within contemporary cultures of consumption.

Reviews

"This engaging exploration of what sustains gym membership as a consumer practice will be of interest to scholars of studies of consumption, the body, leisure and health." - CHOICE Review

"Rejecting cultural dupe models, so prevalent in consumerist analyses of fitness, Sassatelli provides a comprehensive analysis of the range of complicated and sometimes contradictory meanings that participants use to understand their continued participation in a commodified fitness culture." - Journal of Consumer Culture

"Sassatelli has written a great book which will be of wide interest and value to scholars of both embodiment and consumption as well as to the narrower fraternity of 'gym researchers.'" - SocioLogica

"An important contribution to contemporary thought on consumer culture." - Journal of Sociology

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Milan, Italy

    Roberta Sassatelli

About the author

ROBERTA SASSATELLI is Associate Professor of Cultural Sociology, Department of Social and Political Studies at the University of Milan, Italy. She has published widely on consumer culture and the sociology of the body and cultural theory. Her most recent publication in English is Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access