Gymnasium: An Analysis Of Body Discipline Mechanism

People striving to lose weight has become a social phenomenon that can not be ignored. Of this phenomenon, academic community has made a lot of empirical research, particularly psychological investigation. These studies deal with the subjective consciousness and a variety of emotional problems in the pursuit of the ideal body type. The body, as a physical body and the base of animality, bears the historical, social and cultural adaptation and discipline in this consumerism society, as well as its needs or desires has been modified and disciplined by the consumerism culture. All these things have not been reflected in those studies. This study attempts to return to the body, with the field survey to the gym as the specific analytical object, to make a more specific understanding about the relationship between the the body and the consumerism society.The main research method in this study is field survey, including in-depth interviews and observations, and Foucault's theory of physical discipline is the main analytical framework. This study tries to figure out how the mechanism of body aesthetic discipline works in the consumerism society, from the the macro and micro level analysis respectively.This article is divided into five parts, the first part introduces the history and current status of the gym, and on the basis of this to identify the study objects and the applicability of the study conclusion.The second part explains why the gym involved in the body discipline, concluding that the body discipline in productivism era that Foucault concerned becomes the aesthetic discipline in consumerism era. And the aesthetic discipline has been there from China's ancient to modern times.The third part of the macro level analysis discusses how the economic power dominates the body aesthetic discipline practice, concluding that the economy constantly seeks to stimulate the body desire to achieve the maximization of economic benefits. Gym, carrying people's desire for ideal body type, provides people with body discipline-based services.Part Four's micro-level discussion focus on the efficiency of the gym, which is a professional body discipline space. It is concluded that the gym applys a variety of standardized means, panopticism training, as well as fitness coach, etc., to discipline the physical body and the desire of body.The last part is the conclusions and debates whether the body is initiative or passive. And finally, the author hopes that some day, the body can be truly carried out by individuals, and the body can be "self-liberation" in the historical, social, cultural and aesthetic practices.