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Researcher finds strength in bodysculpting
If a woman builds muscle for sport, does that mean she’s less feminine?
“There’s a complex, contradictory relationship between muscular women and femininity,” said Jamilla Rosdahl, a University of the Sunshine Coast Arts Honours graduate and tutor.
Swedish-born Ms Rosdahl, 31, is close to finalising her PhD on the topic after becoming personally involved in her research into the sport on the Coast.
“I went to the gym every day to train for bodysculpting before I became pregnant,” said Ms Rosdahl, now a mother of two.
“It’s a form of bodybuilding that displays female strength and it can make women feel empowered, confident and more self-assured.
“I’m interested in femininity as a social and historical phenomenon and how this affects women when it should be about strength, health and the capabilities of women and their bodies.”
Ms Rosdahl’s outstanding work has earned her The Australian Sociological Association postgraduate scholarship to participate in its annual conference at Macquarie University from 6-9 December.
“I’m looking forward to presenting my paper, Autoethnography, Poststructuralist Feminist Fieldwork and Bodysculpting,” she said.
“It’s very rewarding and motivating to receive this acknowledgement. The University of the Sunshine Coast has given me the resources and support to pursue my interest in sociology and gender theory.”
USC Sociology Lecturer Dr Lucinda Aberdeen said it was the first time that a USC postgraduate student had been awarded the scholarship.
Ms Rosdahl also recently was named 2010 joint winner of the USC Dean of Arts of Social Sciences Award for Sessional Tutoring.
Ms Rosdahl said she was delighted with her study success at USC after arriving in Australia as a teenager in the 1990s unable to speak English.
“My mother was an archaeologist in Sweden so I come from a background of curiosity about human beings and social behaviour,” she said.
Ms Rosdahl received first-class Honours for her thesis on gender theory and sexuality.
Her previous research projects include the schooling experience of young refugees in Queensland.
– Julie Gatehouse