有關女性與身體意象的話題在社會學中一直受到相當程度的關注。在運動相關領域中,有不少學者紛紛針對女性參與運動與身體意象之關聯性進行研究,並從中得到女性多以使用運動來提升身體意象的結論。若從女性主義的立場觀看此一學術結論,不禁令人批判根植於父權社會中的女體概念,似乎在當今社會中持續左右著女性對身體的認知,並與女性主義所提出之賦權觀念互相矛盾。因此,本研究蒐集國內各層面女性與運動之相關文獻作進一步的主題分析與檢視,探索當前女性對身體意象的概念如何受到當前社會所型塑,並企圖藉由女性主義所提及的賦權觀念對女性的運動參與行為做反思性的思考。其中,本研究嘗試去突顯「運動」這個概念在女性運動行為選擇上所扮演的角色以及所蘊含的衝突意義,究竟是高舉女性權力的火炬,賦予女性身體自由的權力,抑或是在實質上成為協助女性執行父權觀念並物化女性的工具。結果發現:女性的身體在運動場域中成為兩種權力的衝突戰場,呈現出持續拉鋸的現象。一方面,女性藉由運動參與展現女性主義所宣揚的身體自主與行為自決,具象化賦權的概念;但另一方面則顯露了目前女性對身體意象的執著,直接的呈現了父權社會控制的結果。
The female body image has been a widespread research issue in sociology. In the context of sports-related discipline, quite a few scholars highly interested in this issue indicated that women tend to utilize sports as a tool to improve their physical appearance, which constitutes the major core of their body image. This academic proposition imposes a serious critique by feminists, who suggest that sports should be recognized as a means for women to empower themselves, instead of being constrained by the traditional patriarchy ideology. Due to this contradictory proposition, this study analyzed current sports and women-related literatures and further investigated how the concept of the female body was formulated. Especially. This study attempted to examine the meanings of ”sports” for understanding whether it highlights the empowering perspective of feminism or assists the patriarchic ideology to materialize the female body. The result demonstrated that the female body has become a conflicting battlefield between two kinds of power: while women are allowed to achieve a more visible status via their participation in sports, sports has been used by women for improving their appearance in order to obtain the beauty system assumed by the traditional patriarchy.