A Socio-Cultural Analysis by William F
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“Finish… Whatever it Takes” Considering Pain and Pleasure in the Ironman Triathlon: A Socio-Cultural Analysis by William Francis Bridel A thesis submitted to the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (December, 2010) Copyright ©William Francis Bridel, 2010 Abstract The Ironman triathlon began in 1978, according to popular accounts the result of an argument among a group of athletes about who was the fittest. Thirty years later, participation in the Ironman has grown exponentially despite the physical and mental demands of the sport. In my dissertation I examine the ways different types of pain and pleasure function in the production of bodies and selves within this sporting practice and how these understandings of pain and pleasure intersect with neoliberal discourses. My study adds to an important body of literature in the sociology of sport that has explored pain and injury. This literature has revealed the normalization of pain and injury in sport, at the expense of athletes’ short and long-term health. Exploring pain and pleasure in a recreational sport and fitness practice and in light of neoliberal governmentality offers new insights. I conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 recreational Ironman triathletes and incorporated my own Ironman experiences into the project. Mediated representations of the sport helped to contextualize the interview and autobiographical materials. I subjected the information that I gathered to a critical discourse analysis informed by the theoretical perspectives of Michel Foucault. My findings reveal that there are multiple ways that people construct their experiences of pain and pleasure in the Ironman context. Athletes strive to negotiate “positive” and “negative” kinds of pain in an effort to produce skilled, disciplined bodies, capable of finishing the event and claiming an “Ironman identity.” Pleasure in this sport seems mostly connected to ideas of challenge, achievement, rewards, and recognition. The constructions of pain and pleasure largely reify dominant sport and exercise ii discourses which promote discipline, toughness, and achievement. Considering the Ironman in light of neoliberalism, it was evident that values of health, self-esteem, the use of pain, and the primary use of non-work/leisure time for training and racing were intricately connected to ideas about individual responsibility. I argue that as the “Ironman identity” becomes more normalized, our understandings of bodies and health shift in problematic way. This reinforces neoliberal ideologies of self-responsibility and makes diminished State responsibility for citizens more insidious than it is already. iii Acknowledgements My decision to complete my doctoral degree at Queen’s University had everything to do with the opportunity to work with Dr. Mary Louise Adams. I came to know Mary Louise first when she was a member of my master’s thesis committee. I decided at that time that our shared interests in figure skating, dance, gender, sexuality, and her willingness to allow me to pursue my own interests made for the ideal scenario. I could not have been more right. The funny thing about doing a Ph.D. is that “life” keeps going on and over the past four years Mary Louise has willingly been academic advisor, counselor, “shoulder,” and friend. Mary Louise: I doubt that I can thank you enough for all that you have done for me over my years at Queen’s and in the last few months especially. I absolutely could not have done this project without you. I look forward to many, many more discussions with you over the coming years about all sorts of fun and intellectually stimulating things. I hope I have made you proud as the first doctoral student in the socio-cultural studies of sport and physical activity at Queen’s. Though the timing of my submission and defense could probably not have been much worse, each member of my dissertation committee gave selflessly of their time and energy and so I want to acknowledge their extensive contributions. I offer my immense gratitude to Dr. Eric Mykhalovskiy for providing such rich insights as my external examiner. Eric: I appreciated your carefully considered feedback, the way you presented it, and your ideas as to what this project might become. I will carry your feedback with me as I move forward with this and other work. Dr. Margaret Little: You brought wonderful humor, sensitivity, and fantastic ideas to the table all of which contributed to this being such a positive experience for me. Thank you for your time and your iv willingness to share your personal experiences and academic expertise. I also want to thank Dr. Alice Aiken, the chair of my defense committee, for ensuring that I didn’t stay on the “hot seat” for too long and for providing both praise and critical thoughts from her area of expertise. Finally, I wish to give my heartfelt thanks to the faculty members of my committee, Dr. Samantha King and Dr. Elaine Power. Sammi and Elaine: You both have offered incredible ideas with respect to this project, right from its infancy, offering wonderful advice, guidance, and enthusiasm for what it was that I was trying to do. Even more than that, thank you for your advice and guidance during my time at Queen’s. I feel very fortunate to have worked with you both and look forward to opportunities to hopefully work with you again in the future. It is imperative that I extend my thanks to the 19 people who were willing to be interviewed for this project. My doctoral dissertation depended upon and became what it is because of each of your willingness to share your experiences, your ideas, and your time with me. I cannot thank each of you enough and wish each of you all the best in your future endeavors — Ironman and otherwise. I also want to thank Brad Culp who provided me with almost all of the copies of Triathlete that I reviewed in my media analysis, some dating back as early as 1983 and which were the last copy on file. Such willingness to help me in this way was not necessary but is greatly appreciated. Brad’s generosity will allow me to continue to work on this and related projects into the future. My colleagues at Queen’s have made these past four years fly by and their support over the final couple of months of this project especially was more than I could have asked for. Marty Clark: You are a phenomenal person to work with and an even better friend and confidante. I can’t imagine anyone I’d have preferred to take-over “my” v space in the office. Thanks for being willing to listen to me talk endlessly about pain, pleasure, Foucault, Merleau-Ponty, the Ironman, for reading multiple drafts of different chapters, and for the one or two laughs (and the one or two pints) we’ve shared over the past few years. Lauren McNicol and Robbie Millington (and Marty): I hope I have developed Billballian theory in a way that is satisfactory to each of you. Thanks for always challenging me intellectually, for teaching me how to play Horse, for introducing me to Sporkle, and for being such fabulous friends over the years. To my other friends at Queen’s, thanks for being so incredible in so many ways. You are all very special to me and each of you has allowed my doctoral studies to be some of the best years of my life: Michael Bravo, Pete Galbraith, Kit Heintzman, Natalie Jacox, Andy Leger, Charles Makin, Sarah McTavish, Carolyn Prouse, and Benjamin Tollestrup — thanks so much! To everyone who has hung out in the socio-cultural and health promotion lab over the years, thanks for your energies, your commitment to and enthusiasm for your work, and (on occasion) for putting up with my fits of uncontrollable laughter. I have also been blessed by a fantastic group of friends who I met through teaching at GoodLife. They have all reminded me on more than one occasion that it is important to step outside of critical thought, to forget about Foucault for a while, and to have fun! Steph Prior: Quite simply put, you are wonderful and have had a significant impact on my life. I am so glad that we have become such good friends and look forward to many, many adventures with you in the future. Thanks for being so fierce and so fabulous. Lindsay Reid and Mike Brean: You opened your home to me at perhaps the most stressful time in my life. I know I wasn’t always easy to be around but you both vi were always amazing to me by giving me your support, your enthusiasm, your humor, and by making sure I ate a good breakfast before I left for the day! Lindsay: Thanks for always being there for me regardless. Though our introduction to one another was rather auspicious, the outcome was one of the best things I could have hoped for. Mike: thanks for the sport debates and the computer help in the eleventh hour! Abigail Johnson: You were first my boss but quickly became my friend. I value the time we spent together traveling between Ktown and Bellevegas and the opportunity you gave me to ramble during those car rides. And to my two newest GoodLife friends, Kristi-Lynn Kirby and Michelle Burns, thanks for quickly becoming some of my biggest cheerleaders. I appreciate your support, your fantastic energies, and your abilities to make me believe I could achieve (yeah, I said it!). I am also incredibly fortunate to have a group of longtime friends who have always been incredibly supportive of me.