ABSTRACT

The article explores the power of fitness in recent American history. It argues that the concept of ability is crucial to understanding the power of fitness, and examining the history of fitness is pivotal to a critical analysis of ableism. As the article shows, modern fitness is more than the physical condition required to succeed in sports; it also means having and shaping a body that represents the willingness and ability to achieve self-improvement, to lead a productive life, and to successfully pursue happiness. Today, a dynamic understanding of fitness seems self-evident. Yet as the article argues, fitness is intimately intertwined with the history of societies built upon liberalism, self-government, and competition. The article therefore begins with a panoramic perspective of how a discourse revolving around an autonomous, liberal, and competitive self took shape from the American Revolution to Social Darwinism, and how this sparked a dynamic understanding of fitness that became a powerful, regulatory ideal within liberal societies. The article then spotlights the beginnings of the recent fitness craze in 1970s and 1980s America in order to explore major paradigms of the age of fitness.

摘要

本文探讨了健身在最近的美国历史中的力量。它认为能力的概念对于理解健身的能力至关重要，而检查健身的历史对于对能力主义进行批判性分析至关重要。正如文章所显示的那样，现代健身不仅仅是成功运动所需要的身体条件；更重要的是 这也意味着拥有并塑造一个能够代表自己实现自我完善，过上充实的生活并成功追求幸福的意愿和能力的身体。如今，对健身的动态理解似乎是不言而喻的。然而，正如文章所述，适应性与建立在自由主义，自治和竞争基础上的社会历史息息相关。因此，本文从全景图着眼，论述了话语如何围绕自主，自由，从美国革命到社会达尔文主义，竞争自我的形成以及如何激发人们对健身的动态理解，使健身成为自由社会中强有力的监管理想。然后，本文重点介绍了1970年代和1980年代美国最近的健身热潮的开始，以探讨健身年龄的主要范例。