Weighing the Body: Women Olympic Weightlifters Negotiating Weight Class, Body Image, and the Unruly Body

Abstract

Women athletes’ experiences of gendered body ideals and empowerment have been well-documented. However, the existing literature largely neglects strength sports, which have a complex relationship with gendered norms given their historical association with masculinity and wide range of weight classes. In this article, we use a feminist poststructuralist lens to explore how eight Olympic Weightlifters participating in the women’s category choose their weight classes while balancing strength, competitiveness, and esthetics. Participants often referenced sport-specific and gendered body discourses when choosing their weight classes, yet also identified a nondiscursive element that could force them to forego athletic and esthetic body ideals: the body itself. Based on these narratives, we suggest that awareness of the “rebellious body” be considered an important element of women athletes’ bodily empowerment.