Is physical activity for any-body?

How/can physical activity be for any-body? What would or could that look like, in policy, in practice, in ‘vibes’? Dr. Griffin’s research aims to unpack therelationship between health and/or wellness imperatives (the neoliberal and moral obligation to engage in health or self-care related activities), the bodypositivity movement, sport and physical activity participation, and bodies of difference (bodies that do not conform to the norms of a society or culture onthe basis of dis/ability, age, body size, gender, socioeconomic status, race, and/or sexuality).

Dr. Griffin will discuss findings from her multi-phased project titled Physical Activity for Any-Body, which was a collaborative ethnography and appreciativeinquiry employing social media analyses, narrative interviews, body mapping, and focus groups. She will share the insights that she and her research teamhave gleaned thus far, interpreting these data using critical (disability, queer, and race) theories and the lens of embodiment. Collectively, this work seeks tounderstand and ultimately strengthen the facets of physical cultures that make them inclusive of all community members and the bodies that they live in, andcalls for the celebration of different types of movement that allows for ebbs and flows across and over time, stillness and reflection, and that is not aboutperformance or improvement but instead about fun, pleasure, and joy.

About the speaker

Dr. Meridith Griffin (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Aging and Society at McMaster University. Her research focuses onembodied lived experiences of physical activity and active leisure participation. She often takes a life course perspective to understand how and why peoplemake choices and engage (or not) in movement-related pursuits and other health-conscious behaviours. Rooted in a critical perspective that straddles thedisciplinary boundaries of social gerontology, sociology of sport/physical activity, leisure studies, and sociological social psychology, she employs qualitativemethodologies, including participatory, ethnographic, narrative, visual and arts-based methods.

This event is free to attend, zoom details will be shared closer to the event.

This hybrid seminar is organised by The Moving Bodies Lab of the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities, led by Cassandra Phoenix.