The Aerobic Babe Mythology
Melanie Barter

Currently in North American popular culture there exists a trend
which revolves around the ideal body-aesthetic.  Specially
designated space, technology, magazines, fashions, and a lot of
people's lifestyles revovle around this quickly increasing
commercial industry.  The obsession with having the perfect figure
has made its way into every element of our lives: we see it in
commercials, in half-hour infomercials, written as slogans, alluded
to by food products, and personified by work out junkies such as
Madonna and Sharon Stone.  Fitness centres are rampant and exercise
equipment is developed and produced at high speeds.  It is
presently so ingrained in our society that it has taken on the form
of myth.  Roland Barthes says in his book Mythologies that "nothing
can be safer from myth" (143): that "everything can be a myth
provided it is conveyed by a discourse" (117).  In this discourse
I will expose the myth of the Aerobic Babe through the creation of
its mythology, using Barthes paradigm of first, second and third
level semiotic systems.  I will also discuss that by lookinng at
the aerobic babe mythology, one could call the myth a perect
example of our postmodern society.

First, to identify the aerobic babe as a myth in a Barthian manner,
I must use his model (124) and fill in the necessary semiotic
elements: the signifier, the signified and the sign.  If one
follows the Barthian model first there must be a liguistic system
where the sign of that system doubles as the signifier of a second
order system, myth.  When the sign of the first system comes into
being, the meaning of that sign allows it to act as a signifier in
the next mythical system.  Barthes views this sign as something
with meaning which temporarily empties itself or its meaning, so
that it may become a form ready and willing to be appropriated by
a signified.  "Myth's point of departure is constituted by the
arrival of meaning." (133) is the way Barthes describes the
launching of myth from the sign of the previous linguistic system. 
To discuss and analyze myth Barthes says that it is not necessary
to breakdown the linguistic system: it is only necessary to
acknowledge its sign as a signifier for myth to access.  He writes
of this, "The semiologist no longer needs to ask about the
composition of the language object he will only need to know its
total term and only in as much as this term lends itself to myth."
(124).  Because, then, it is not our concern to show how the first
system came to into being, I will jump in and start with the
signifier of the myth, which as we know, has taken its form from
the meaning of the sign in the linguistic system.  

The signifier in the aerobic myth is the woman (or sometimes man)
who looks unnaturally toned and fit and is posed usually in
advertisements.  Her body looks like something which came from a
plastic mold.  It is "perfectly" shaped, smooth, tanned, hairless
and flawless.  She is the woman in tight, low cut aerobic wear;
big, done-up hair, and a smiling face.  She does not sweat, nor is
she ever out of breath.  She is often found in newspaper ads for
fitness clubs, such as Bally's Matrix and Superfitness, or on TV
late at night selling mail order portable work out equipment
(equipment so small that you can hite under you desk and work out
in the luxury of your own office - this of course, though, would be
for the male aerobic babe).  This woman, when in union with her
signified, comprise the aerobic babe myth.  Once she becomes a
myth, her meaning is easily recognized: people see her and they
understand her message immediately.  This of course, though, is
dependent on the signified, which Barthes also refers to as the
concept.

Barthes explains that often a neologism is necessary when
discussing in myth because often the signified is something that
does not fit into an already established word.  Myth takes on such
a natural form that it is not until one wants to deconstruct it,
that it becomes apparant that there is no word for what is being
signified: until the deconstruction, the signified seems like a
natural phenomenon that gets taken for granted, thus leaving it
unnamed.  In the aerobic babe myth I shall name the concept In-
shapness, after the existence of many North Americans striving to
get "in shape".  I have no alternative than to create a new word
for the concept of this myth because other established words, such
as fitness or healthyness do not apply exactly.  Each of those
words has their own connotations and they do not fit the concept
which lies within this myth.  The In-shapeness myth is culture and
time specific: it reflects something that is going on in society
right now, and other words to represent this concept would not
work.  Likewise, the aerobic babe as a signifier would not be right
for any of the words that I just considered as possible signifieds. 
She could only signify a neologistic concept because she, herself,
is also so new.

Now that we have determined that the concept of the aerobic babe
myth is In-shapeness, a few words on what In-shapeness actually is,
are in order.  The In-shapeness myth is based in the quest for the
perfect body.  What constitutes the "perfect body" is the promoted
and accepted version of a desired anatomical aesthetic.  This idea
has been present for centuries and the form in fashion is dependent
on the trend of the day, whether it be the Rubenesque woman form
the Baroque period or the thin, waif-like woman of the twenties. 
Now the ideal body is one that is hard as rock - or perhaps,
"steel", as in the television ad for the mail order video entitled,
"Buns of Steel".  Although the previous ideal bodies revolved
around fashion and/or art, this particular body in discussion does
not entirely remain in that sphere.  (In the fashion world the
ideal body does have to look toned and fit but it is different from
what exists in the world of In-shapeness.)

In-shapeness encompasses a world of its own: it has the masses in
its pen.  The world of In-shapeness has millions of people buying
the same work our clothing, going to the same type of work out
centres, and all desiring to achieve the exact same body - which at
that point could hardly be called a body; a form would be more
appropriate, or to use their language, "a shape".  This world makes
it convenient for any one to join.  Chain fitness centres exist all
over major cities, they usually carry the same or similar
equipment, and the layout is very ordered, so that little mental
involvement - it is like ordering from a fast food restaurant.  ANd
if you do not have the time or money for fitness clus, you simply
order a piece of equipment for your home at prices that range from
$29.99 to hundreds of dollars and have your own private regimen. 
The body in this world is removed from the Self and is worked on as
a seperate entity.  In-shapeness does not connote healthy eating
for instance, or getting exercise for the sake of feeling better. 
In-shapeness revovles around looking great and aiming for an ideal
physique.  This distinction is necessary when looking at this myth
as a part of a post-modern society.

The aerobic myth is a combination of the aerobic babe as a
signifier and In-shapeness as the signified.  Using a mathematical
analogy the structure of the myth would be, woman in exercise wear
+ In-shapeness = aerobic babe myth.  The sign is the aerobic babe
with meaning, until then she is only the aerobic babe with form. No
tuntil she meets In-shapeness can she be anything but a signifier
(unless, of course, she takes a step backwards and remains as the
sign in her previous linguistic system).  Once the sign has meaning
the signifier and the signified have done their job, and their
relationship remains eliptical; they work as a unit and remain that
way as long as the sign continues to have meaning.  This, then, is
the construction of the myth of the aerobic babe.  She is an image
that portrays getting in shape as possible and as a positive move
in one's life.  Her message to the typical North American is that,
"You too can have this great body; get on your aerobic clotes and
go work out so that your body can look perfect."

The only way the aerobic babe myth can be discussed is with the
knowledge that comes with the aerobic babe mythology.  We could not
even speak of the myth if the mythology were not created.  The
aerobic babe myth without a mythology exists as naturally as
sunshine does: as something so natural that it does not even invoke
questioning - it is a completely accepted norm working on the
oblivious public.  Barthes says that the, "myth-consumer takes the
signification for a system of facts: myth is read as a factual
system, whereas it is but a semiological system" (142).  Myth,
though, can only be seen as a semiological system with the exposing
aid of a mythology.  He writes of this, "the best weapon against
myth is perhaps to mythify it in its turn, and to produce an
artifical myth: and this reconstituted myth will in fact be a
mythology" (147).  Mythology is a third order system that
operations in the same way that the second order system of myth
operates.  Just as a myth takes a sign from a linguistic system and
uses it as a signifier, mythology takes a sign from a mythical
system and uses it as a signifier.  A mythology of a particular
myth, then, uses the mythical sign as its signifier.  The mythology
of a particular myth, then, uses the mythical sign as its
signifier.  The mythology of the aerobic babe uses the sign in the
aerobic babe myth as its signifer, the process then starts all
over.

As we have already established, the signifier in the aerobic babe
mythology starts as the sign of the aerobic babe myth.  It is the
exact same woman in her aerobic wear, except that she no longer has
her mythical meaning.  She is for a second time drained of most of
her meaning so that she may become a form, again to be appropriated
by a signified (one must remember that she never really loses her
meaning, she just wears it on the outside so that a new concept may
provide her with a new meaning.)  Her form has always been the
same, it is her meaning that keeps changing: it evolves and
changes, and accumulates more meaning as it passes through the
various semiological systems.

The process within a mythology is exactly the same as the process
within a linguistic and mythic system.  A mythological concept must
now come and appropriate the aerobic babe form in order to give it
meaning.  And just as the concept in a myth is usually a neologism,
so is the concept in a mythology.  The concept in mythology is
usually a meta-concept: it is a concept that is aware of the
previous concept and makes a statement on that previous concept. 
In the aerobic babe mythology I shall call the concept Postmodern
Bodyism.

As a signified, Postmodern Bodyism is aware that the aerobic babe
myth is a farce and should only be seen as an outcome of our own
postmodern society.  This concept protects one from being trapped
by the myth itself.  As Barthes says, it cuts him off from all the
myth-consumers and allows him to liberate the myth (171).  By being
aware of what the aerobic babe myth is and how it works, one is
able to avoid becoming an aerobic babe themselves.  One does not
have to physically participate in the myth to be a believer: the
myth is an ideology and one can acknowledge it as legitimate and
never have to leave the couch.  One may not be cognizantly aware of
Postmodern Bodyism, for example, but may intuitively be a cynic and
therefore be able to skirt myth's trap: the protection here is that
the cynic feels the concept and relates to it, but has never found
it necessary to name it.  Postmodern Bodyism has its roots in
disbelief and sees through the myth.  It is an idea that is aware
of the fact that the goals of In-shapeness are ludicrous. 
Postmodern Bodyism is, then, the concept that In-shapeness is
false: that the idea of the perfect body is farce and that all it
is, is another way to manipulate society by the reins of their own
vanity, into a world of packaged, fitness goods.

The sign in the aerobic babe mythology will look exactly the same
as the sign in the aerobic babe myth, except that she will read
much differently: her meaning could not be farther from the meaning
of the mythical aerobic babe sign.  Once one sees through the
aerobic babe myth, the original signifer signifies the crass, de-
humanized, automated, produced world of postmodernism.  When one
sees the aerobic babe as a mythological sign the message is not get
in shape and obtain the perfect body.  On the contrary, the message
communicates the world of fitness as unrealistic, consumer
oriented, and a sign of our inorganic times.  Barthes writes, "the
mythologist is condemned to live in theoretical sociality; for him,
to be in society is, at best to be truthful...his connection with
the world is of the order of sarcasm" (171).  This view of a sign,
that to others would represent the myth of the aerobic babe, shows
the meta-cognizant nature of mythologies.

The aerobic babe as a mythological sign of postmodern may seem
clear, but some examples for those who have not bought into the
myth may help to clarify the world which it represents and how that
is an example of postmodernism.

In the fitness world of the aerobic babe myth the body that is
worked on is no longer a part of the Self: the connection between
body and mind gets severed.  The mind becomes meta-aware that it is
working out and striving for a shape that has already been
constituted.  The body becomes an object to the mind that is
external entity and can be controlled just as any other piece of
equipment can be.  Conceptually the body gets deconstructed into
individual muscle parts and is then no longer regarded as a whole. 
The work out junkie works on this muscles or that muscle and fails
to perceive his body as something that is attached to him and has
life.  What happens in this postmodern world of working out is a
disassociation with the body.  The mind treats each worked out area
of the body as though it were inanimate - as though it were being
manufactured - which dehumanizes it and makes it a perfect
candidate for being included under the idea of postmodernism.

Some of the language used within the world of the aerobic babe
reflects how the body is perceived.  The most obvious ones are the
terms "in shape" and "out of shape", "Got to get in shape", "Boy,
am I ever out of shape": using terms like this usually means, "I've
got to get fit...I've got to get healthy...I better do some
exercise."  The use of the world "shape" suggests that there is a
shape that is being aspired to, not a strength or a feeling of
healthiness.  Getting "in shape" is so commonly used that people do
not think about what they are meaning.  Although they would claim
that they really meant getting fit or healthy, if they have bought
into the myth then they would literally mean attaining a certain
shape.  Another word that is used in aerobic classes and circulates
around the gym is "sculpt".  There are classes that range from ten
to a hundred people who are there to "scuplt and tone".  Again, the
word "sculpt" suggests that the body is worked on as an external
material.  I think of scupting clay and making forms, I guess the
postmodern workout babe would too, except the clay would be their
own body.  

The equipment used in up to date gyms verges on unbelievable unless
you have seen it for yourself.  Imagine fifteen Stairmasters
(automated stepping machines) next to fifteen high-tech,
programmable stationary bikes, tread mills that can increase their
slope, and hundreds of other machines for every muscle in your
body.  Imagine this on a couple floors of a high rise building,
complete with neon lights that flash and spell aerobics, little,
white lights, snazzy carpeting, chrome, and popular music being
piped in or leaking out from the glass box that holds the aerobics
classes.  This is no exaggeration - this is Bally's Matrix in
Etobicoke.

The fitness centre is the farthest thing from anything natural that
I have seen.  At capacity, at least one hundred people are there
stepping in sync, rowing in sync, bending forward, lifting bars,
lying down pushing some thing and more.  These people are like
robots who interect with machines that talk to them: they listen to
their walkman or independently tune out because there is nothing
with which to make a connection.  The machines are all programmable
according to your own personal selection.  Before you start you
have to push in your weight, your desired level, your desired time
period and then you're off.  You interact with a machine that beeps
every time you are below performance level, or have walked so many
flights of stairs, or are almost finished - frankly these machines
beep whenever they get the chance.  After you have finished, on the
display panel appaers the amount of calories you have burned off,
how many flights of stairs you have climbed, or the number of
kilometres you have just jogged or cycled.  This is a sign of the
information obsessed attitudes of postmodernism.  The attitudes
that also thrive on automation and technology and communicate in
ways that are less and less in need of other human beings. 

I want to make one final point on the world of In-shapeness and
postmodernism.  There is a paradox which is intrinsic to the
system: Why would someone work at saving time and energy, only to
have to make up for it at the gym?  Why, for example, would Mr.
Executive ride the evelator thirty-five floors to his office twice
a day and then after work go to the gym and walk seventy flights of
stairs on the Stairmaster?  Or ride the escalator, or partake in
any other energy consuming device?  Could it possibly be that he,
along with many other millions of people, have bought into the
aerobic babe myth?  All the people who are involved in this
contradiction prove the point that "naturalization is the essence
of myth" (142): that myth makes its way into our consciousness and
takes the form of something real.  It is precisely because of
myth's cunning nature that mythologies are necessary.  The only
hope for escaping myth is for mythologies to be recognized, voiced
and communicated.