Online doping. The new self-help culture of ethnopharmacology |
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| Authors: | Jesper Andreasson Thomas Johansson |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Sport Science, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden;2. Department of education, communication and Learning, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | In Sweden, but also internationally, official regimes and public health organizations conduct fairly comprehensive antidoping measures. As a consequence, numerous ‘new’ ways to learn about and access these types of drugs have emerged. Social media and different internet forums, for example, have become part of a new self-help culture in which people can anonymously approach these substances, discuss their experiences of using them and minimize the possibility of encounters with the police. This article focuses on how the use of performance- and image-enhancing drugs (PED) is perceived and negotiated socially in the context of an internet-mediated and online community called Flashback. The results are in accordance with similar studies on internet bodybuilding communities. That is, even though the participants to a certain degree are aware of the risks and health costs of this kind of physical regime, the gains of using PED clearly dominate the discussions. Adding to this research, this article found that in the imaginary world of online bodybuilding a number of ideas about the ‘genetic max’, as well as the ultimate possibility of exceeding one’s limits, and creating something special and extraordinary, circulate. These stories confirm in many ways the legitimate mission of searching for the ultimate bodybuilding adventure, using different means and methods to transcend the limits of the self/body. |
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