This paper explores how heterosexual images structure representations of female elite athletes, and the different practices through which these are perpetuated, both by female athletes themselves, and by others. The focus is on how female athletes experience and reflect upon the relationship between being an athlete and conceptions of femininity with reference to the media, sponsors, fashion/sports clothing and the public. The data are drawn from in- depth interviews with 17 female elite athletes from four different sports in which female athletes perform particularly well internationally: athletics, cross-country skiing, handball and soccer. The findings suggest that the construction of heterosexuality as an organizing principle in women's sport is a complex process involving numerous factors. Female elite athletes are exposed to constraints and paradoxes in which the message is that they may participate in elite sports, but only as long as it does not weaken their hetero sexual attractiveness.

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BackgroundIndividuals with anorexia nervosa frequently feel ambivalent about treatment and weight restoration, and drop out and relapse rates in treatment are high. Increased insight into the function of the eating disorder is considered essential for achieving long-lasting, meaningful change. However, research investigating the functions of anorexia nervosa tends to focus on the role of the disease per se. Distinctions are rarely made across features. In particular, the subjective experience, understanding and sense making of the engagement in compulsive exercise in individuals with anorexia nervosa has received little attention. By using a qualitative methodological approach, this paper aims to expand on prior findings by examining how patients with anorexia nervosa understand and make sense of the experience of exercise in the context of their lives and treatment programme.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with six females, four of whom were former athletes. Transcripts were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).ResultsTwo overarching themes emerged in the analysis of the larger study of which this paper is a part; ‘paradoxical functions of exercise’ and ‘diverging experiences of exercise’. Diverging experiences of exercise is the focus of this paper. Firstly, in spite of being severely underweight and suffering from exhaustion, as well as having a clear awareness of the associated negative health effects, participants were engaged in a continuous cycle of rigorous and excessive exercise, which consumed extensive amounts of time and energy. Secondly, the results demonstrate how exercise routines negatively control and interfere with the participants’ involvement in the social world. Thirdly, the manner in which participants speak about their exercise reveals their wording to be characterized by efforts to downplay the extent of their actual immersion in exercise. Issues of control and ambivalence about treatment and recovery can be considered potential triggers for the participants’ engagement with exercise. Implicit meanings are elaborated upon and discussed in relation to existing literature.ConclusionsThe material provides increased insight into the multi-layered meanings of exercise for individuals with anorexia nervosa. It also suggests alternatives to current ways of understanding and approaching exercise that may enable this issue to be addressed in a more meaningful way in therapy. Qualitative approaches can make a valuable contribution to furthering such understanding.

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This file was downloaded from the institutional repository Brage NIH -brage.bibsys.no/nih Kolnes, L.-J. (2017