Sculpting the ideal body: A narrative analysis of the body profile craze in South Korea using Honneth's pathologies of recognition

Abstract

This study critically examines the distorted social values associated with the widespread “body sculpting” trend in South Korea using Axel Honneth's concept of pathologies of recognition as an analytical framework. To this end, it conducted a narrative analysis of three men and three women who began exercising to achieve an aesthetically desirable body with the intention of taking professional body profile photos and posting them on social media. The findings reveal that the intrinsic value of exercise has been distorted in two ways. First, participants exhibited an excessive desire to be recognized as “influencers” on social media, leveraging their well-toned bodies as physical capital, which undermines the inherent purpose of exercise. Second, as fitness leaders sought to enhance their reputations through their followers, and participants unquestioningly followed them, exercise became merely a tool for social recognition rather than a pursuit of intrinsic well-being. This study contributes to the sociological discourse by analyzing the “body sculpting” trend as a sociopathological phenomenon, highlighting the need to re-evaluate its direction and reaffirm the intrinsic value of exercise for future generations.