The Political Economy of the Body as Sign: A Sociological Study on Supplement Addiction among Bodybuilding–Fitness Practitioners

Abstract

This study examines the increasingly widespread bodybuilding–fitness culture and supplement addiction through the lens of the political economy of signs. The primary aim is to conceptualize supplement use as a form of addiction and to unpack the socio-cultural and economic mechanisms behind it. An ethnographic design was adopted; in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 male participants, and approximately two years of field observations in gyms were incorporated into the dataset. Analysis yielded four main themes: the economy of visibility; consumption discipline and the cycle of dependency; costs, sponsorships, and the informal market; and the aestheticization and minimization of risks. Findings indicate that supplement use is transformed into a form of addiction shaped by the desire to increase the body’s sign value. The symbolic value attributed to bodily appearance leads participants to rationalize potential health risks in line with esthetic concerns. This process confers esthetic meanings on supplements and banned substances such as steroids and legitimizes an unregulated, informal market structure. Ultimately, the study demonstrates the conversion of the body into sign-capital within the economic–political order and shows how this conversion intersects with individual patterns of addiction.

Keywords

• Bodybuilding
• supplement addiction
• political economy of signs
• embodied neoliberalism
• aestheticization of risk

Abstract

This study examines the increasingly widespread bodybuilding–fitness culture and supplement addiction through the lens of the political economy of signs. The primary aim is to conceptualize supplement use as a form of addiction and to unpack the socio-cultural and economic mechanisms behind it. An ethnographic design was adopted; in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 male participants, and approximately two years of field observations in gyms were incorporated into the dataset. Analysis yielded four main themes: the economy of visibility; consumption discipline and the cycle of dependency; costs, sponsorships, and the informal market; and the aestheticization and minimization of risks. Findings indicate that supplement use is transformed into a form of addiction shaped by the desire to increase the body’s sign value. The symbolic value attributed to bodily appearance leads participants to rationalize potential health risks in line with esthetic concerns. This process confers esthetic meanings on supplements and banned substances such as steroids and legitimizes an unregulated, informal market structure. Ultimately, the study demonstrates the conversion of the body into sign-capital within the economic–political order and shows how this conversion intersects with individual patterns of addiction.

Thanks

Mehmet Emin Bozkurt

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