Publisher's Synopsis
The gym is often seen as an emblem of modernity, but its origins date back 2,800 years to the very beginnings of Western civilization. The Temple of Perfection charts the gym's long history, exploring its enduring appeal and growing popularity in a world increasingly obsessed with physical perfection, and attracted by the quick fixes of plastic surgery and miracle diet pills.
How we look after our bodies is based on the complex interplay of spiritual beliefs, moral discipline and aesthetic ideals that are entangled with the dynamics of political, social and sexual power. Today, training in a gym is primarily associated with individual fulfilment, but the gym has always had another role in creating men and women who are 'fit for purpose' - but exactly for what and whose purpose? In its many incarnations, the gym has been the stage on which the interests of the individual, the state, the media and the corporate world have intersected, sometimes with unintended consequences. Although the gym may look like a place where the self-obsessed pursue the superficial ideal of physical perfection, Eric Chaline argues that it has always been one of the principal battlefields of humanity's social, political, sexual and cultural wars.
The history of the gym is also a history of the human body: its real and idealized forms, artistic representation and public and private presentation. Although this book may not make you want to go to the gym, it will transform the way you think about it, your body and your attitude to fitness.
The Temple of Perfection has been reviewed by Mark Mason on Monocle 24 Radio's Arts Review. To listen to the review please click here.
Eric Chaline has been interviewed by Amanda Smith on ABC Radio's 'Bodysphere' programme. To listen to the interview please wait for the mp3 file to load, or to go to the website click here.
