Corpos que desafiam padrões: a história do fisiculturismo feminino nacional e internacional

• Ano de defesa: 2025
• Autor(a) principal: Pfeil, Vivian
• Orientador(a): Melo, Gislane Ferreira de
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Católica de Brasília
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa Stricto Sensu em Educação Física
• Departamento: Escola de Educação, Tecnologia e Comunicação
• País: Brasil
• Palavras-chave em Português: Fisiculturismo; Mulheres; Gênero; Enfrentamento; Psicologia do esporte
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Bodybuilding; Women; Gender; Resistance; Sport psychology
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS DA SAUDE::EDUCACAO FISICA
• Link de acesso: https://bdtd.ucb.br:8443/jspui/handle/tede/3802

Bodybuilding, as both a sport and cultural phenomenon, emerged in the late 19th century as a celebration of physical strength and masculine aesthetics. Initially characterized by displays of power and virility, it became a predominantly male domain, where the muscular body symbolized hegemony, discipline, and superiority. The gradual inclusion of women in bodybuilding, beginning in the 1970s, marked a historical and symbolic rupture, challenging traditional gender norms and redefining the boundaries of femininity in sport. This dissertation aims to construct a historical timeline of women's participation in bodybuilding through documentary and narrative analysis of biographical records, publications, news reports, digital media, and other materials related to national and international female bodybuilders. The study adopts a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive approach, using narrative analysis to interpret the meanings attributed to the athletes’ life stories. The findings highlight key figures in the sport, both globally and in Brazil, and reveal the multifaceted challenges faced by female bodybuilders from building a sporting identity within a gender-normative field to navigating career transitions and personal reinvention after competitive retirement. Athletes such as Iris Kyle, Juliana Malacarne, Francielle Mattos, and Andrea Shaw exemplify how the muscular female body can simultaneously serve as a symbol of empowerment and a target of cultural resistance. The research also exposes regional, racial, and socioeconomic disparities that affect access to resources, visibility, and institutional support, particularly within the Brazilian context. In conclusion, female bodybuilding is more than a competitive sport, it is a symbolic arena where athletes craft narratives of resistance, redefine femininity, and expand the possibilities of bodily expression in athletics. By documenting these trajectories, this study contributes to the recognition of women’s presence in bodybuilding and enriches the broader discourse on gender, embodiment, and inclusion in contemporary sports culture.