On the female image and performance enhancing drugs experience

Research on gender and image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) has been heavily dominated by an interest in men and muscular masculinities. Following this, women and their experiences have been backgrounded in the scholarly debate. The aim of this chapter is to discuss and illustrate the need for and significance of analysing women's experiences of using IPEDs on their own terms. In doing so, we also advance an argument on current knowledge of women's IPED experiences narrated from a position that is not formed by a lens of masculinity. The chapter builds on secondary literature as well as our own writings on the matter, focusing on two themes that have been prominent in the literature: use experiences/identities and cultures/communities. The chapter shows that the limited research on women who use IPEDs has tended to focus heavily on female bodybuilders, but that this research has begun to be complimented with more diverse narratives and femininity positions, as well as women's motivations and experiences of use. Women-centred communities are also gradually evolving, serving to question the cultural manspreading that has dominated the focus in both the scholarly debate and grassroot levels among users for decades. For example, the ability to set female physiology and needs as the default in discussions, without necessitating to reference men's experiences, focus on how certain drugs and doses impacted women, are seen as highly relevant for women's risk assessment and harm reduction. We argue there is need for further research using approaches that allow for analysing women's diversities within IPED communities.