Body-shaming among Gym-Goers: Lived Experiences of Filipino Young Adult Men

Various factors affect why people exercise and go to the gyms (e.g., physical, mental, etc.), or what makes them stay and continue with it. Body-shaming is common in the Philippines even prior to COVID-19, regardless of gender. Body-shaming is defined as mocking someone's body, in which its humiliation causes emotional distress; and, body-shaming among men is rarely discussed. Using the phenomenological research design, this study aims to understand the lived experiences of Filipino young adult gym-going men on body-shaming. Six (6) Filipino young adult men (18-25 years old) residing in Manila were interviewed individually. They are all identified as gym-goers and reported to have faced body-shaming. Qualitative data was analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis. It used a semi-structured interview as collection method in which data were analyzed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results show that the body shaming experienced by the Filipino young adult men may be a source of motivation to the gym-going participants, despite the negative feelings they have towards body-shaming. The data also reveal eleven (11) themes that summarizes the lived experiences of the participants about body-shaming. This was categorized into two: the forms of body-shaming, and the responses to it.