The Discipline of Space in a Japanese Fitness Club
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[1] Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
City of Kalamazoo, Estados Unidos
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- Localización: Sociology of sport journal, ISSN 0741-1235, Vol. 19, Nº. 2, 2002, págs. 189-205
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
This article explores the ways in which the spatial layout of the Japanese fitness club reflects and organizes bodies according to cultural ideologies of leisure, gender, status, and hygiene. Based on qualitative research conducted at two fitness clubs in Japan. I examine how social relationships between men and women, clients and employees, and managers and staff are structured by the enclosure and exposure of space, the division of rooms, and the attention to cleanliness. I argue that the architecture of the fitness club is lied to power inequities that serve to regulate and manage bodies according to late capitalist ideals of efficiency, productivity, and hygiene. I emphasize that these ideals, however, often present certain contradictions when juxtaposed against longstanding cultural standards of effort, health, and beauty in Japan.
