‘Stepping away from the computer and into the sweats': The construction and negotiation of exercise identities in a Norwegian public company

While research has found that a developed exercise identity enables individuals to view exercise participation as self- reinforcing, the social barriers to such exercise identity development and participation have not been fully addressed. The subsequent aim of this study was to explore some of the social complexities at play in terms of how company employees construct and manage their exercise identities within a work place setting. A case-study method was used to address the research issue over a nine-month period. The case to be studied included a sample of 72 employees from a Norwegian public company who participated in an on-going work-based exercise programme called ‘Exercise for all’. The principal means of data collection comprised participant observation, individual interviews and exercise logbooks. The data were subject to inductive analysis. The primary barriers to exercise participation included high levels of social comparison in a competitive working context, particularly in relation to ‘competent colleagues’, and feelings of guilt associated with partaking in ‘recreational’ activities during work hours. Strategies engaged with to overcome and negotiate such obstacles included justifying participation through a health-related discourse, and constructing a more distinct ‘worker-exerciser’ identity

'I am who I am'? Navigating norms and the importance of authenticity in lesbian and bisexual women's accounts of their appearance practices

This article explores how lesbian and bisexual women negotiate pressures to look like an authentic lesbian and an authentic individual in their accounts of their clothing and appearance practices. Thirty women responded to a 'paper-and-pen' qualitative survey about lesbian and bisexual women's dress and appearance. Two main themes were generated from the data: 'norms and conformity' and 'freedom and authenticity'. Conformity to appearance mandates raised questions about individual authenticity; the women negotiated this dilemma either by presenting their conformity as active and strategic, a means to an end (subverting normative assumptions of heterosexuality, being recognised by other non-heterosexual women) or as an almost unconscious expression of their inner dyke. For feminine and other non-conforming women, their lack of conformity raised questions about their authenticity as a non-heterosexual woman (and their feminist credentials), and some of these women negotiated this dilemma by presenting their femininity as a subversion of heteronormative assumptions by showing that any woman can be a lesbian. We conclude this article by highlighting the potential for over-reading sexuality in accounts of sexuality and appearance practices. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC