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#gainingweightiscool: The use of transformation photos on Instagram among female weightlifters in recovery from eating disorders

Hockin-Boyers, H.; Pope, S.; Jamie, K

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Abstract

In this article, we explore transformation photos on Instagram as ‘digital artefacts’ that can inform understandings of eating disorder recovery in the context of sport, exercise and health. Transformation photos are two images (from different time points) set alongside one another to represent the changing of bodies in look, shape or size. These images are prevalent within eating disorder recovery and fitness spaces on Instagram and typically display an individual’s recovery journey through a before (thin) and after (more muscular) image comparison. By triangulating interview, photo elicitation and netnography data from research on female weightlifting as a tool for recovery from eating disorders, we explore transformation photos in relation to three intersecting themes; 1) new modes of ‘becoming’, 2) representation and ‘mediated memories’, and finally, 3) survivorship and identity. Our findings demonstrate that transformation photos are integral to the process and practice of recovery for women who use weightlifting as a tool for recovery from eating disorders. Moreover, we suggest that by engaging with a popular mimetic device (transformation photos), we were able to ‘meet participants where they are’ and offer a novel qualitative approach to understanding how digitally mediated lives are lived.

Citation

Hockin-Boyers, H., Pope, S., & Jamie, K. (2020). #gainingweightiscool: The use of transformation photos on Instagram among female weightlifters in recovery from eating disorders. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(1), 94-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676x.2020.1836511

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 3, 2020
Online Publication Date Nov 2, 2020
Publication Date 2020
Deposit Date Jul 24, 2020
Publicly Available Date Nov 4, 2020
Journal Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health
Print ISSN 2159-676X
Electronic ISSN 2159-6778
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Issue 1
Pages 94-112
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676x.2020.1836511

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Published Journal Article (Advance online version.) (3.4 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Advance online version. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.






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