Reversal and Cycle:Body Discipline Mechanism and Micro Power Games on Fitness Live Streaming Platforms
Based on Foucault's theory of body discipline,the study observed two fitness livestreaming studios on the TikTok plat-form by means of participant observation and interviewed livestream fitness followers on the platform through semi-structured inter-view,in an attempt to understand the"changed"and the"unchanged"of micro-power operation in the fitness livestreaming sector a-gainst the mobility of power relations and the complexity of body's absence and presence,and to reveal the alienation and challenges faced by digital fitness and contemporary notions of body.The findings show that Foucault's body discipline still exists in mediated in-teractions based on digital media,which is the"unchanged".What has changed is the"decentralization"and the"two-way interac-tion"in cyberspace,which reverses the power relations diffused in it;The micro-power in the fitness livestreaming sector is flowing,and eventually forms a chain structure.The study concludes that when we see the many advantages of fitness livestreaming,we should not overlook the power mechanism flowing in it,which makes the sport that can liberate the body be trained as a standardized produc-tion method to manipulate the body,and exposes the individuals in the chain of training to the risk of self-objectification.
body disciplinediscipline powerTikTokfitness livestreaminglivestreamer