A corpo “libero”. Pratiche di bodybuilding, fitness e wellness tra razionalità e moralità

Abstract

At the beginning of the twentieth century, western society faced relevant sociological questions, such as the birth of leisure time, the need to occupy it and to attribute to it sense and cardinal principles capable of guiding human actions. At the same time, an ongoing process of democratizing sport and increasing individual physical activities began. This article seeks a fil rouge that can justify over time the choice of an individual physical activity, which requires autological motivation for the person to understand its meaning and to be able to practice it during leisure time. If around the mid-twentieth century the justificative principle of leisure and sporting practices such as bodybuilding was found in work morality and residues of taylorism and rational organization of work, in the second half of the twentieth century fun morality and health as a virtue attribute meaning and substance to fitness and wellness activities.