Girls’ identity constructions are influenced by the dominant sport, health and beauty discourses in their society. Recent research indicates that sport and health discourses embedded in physical education (PE) compete for influence. Some of these studies have illustrated how these discourses inform girls’ social construction of body ideals and femininities, as well as their choices among physical activities. Our purpose in posing the question, ‘How are girls’ identity construction in PE influenced by current fitness and sport discourses?’ is to explore their identity construction and how they negotiate within the PE discourse as embodied subjects, as well as how they use their body as an object of display. This study is based on fieldwork among 10th grade students (15-year-olds) in a school in Oslo, Norway. The methods used include participant observation, informal conversations with the students and two group interviews. We hope that our findings concerning how sport and fitness discourses influence the students’ concepts of both the ideal body and their choices among bodily activities in PE will contribute to the debate on the future of PE. In particular, the girls’ embrace of the fitness discourse in PE is relevant to a question of great current concern: How should schools and PE teachers meet and relate to the fitness discourse in contemporary society? We believe that if left unchallenged and permitted to deepen its influence on PE, this discourse may well ensure that body modification becomes the primary purpose of PE.
