Embodied self‐identity, healthy lifestyles and school physical education

Abstract This paper draws on a study of female and male adolescents' social constructions of the body and self‐identity in and around physical education lessons. The concepts of the social construction of the body and embodied self‐identity are discussed and related to popular physical culture in Australia. Data from a two year study in Australian secondary schools is then used to illustrate the ways in which popular physical culture is appropriated, reconstructed and accommodated within adolescents' lifestyles. It is argued, on the basis of this data, that many girls and some boys experience degrees of disembodiment in physical education lessons as a strategy for the protection of self‐identity. As a result, many are hindered in appropriating the resources of popular physical culture to lead active or healthy lifestyles. The paper concludes by raising issues for the teaching of physical education and for health promotion more broadly.