#HASTalks: ReVisioning Fitness: Working Collectively Towards More Equitable Physical Activity Futures

#HASTalks is a seminar series curated by The Department of Health, Aging and Society at McMaster University.

ReVisioning Fitness: Working Collectively Towards More Equitable Physical Activity Futures
• Thursday, March 30, 2023
• 2:30 PM-3:30 PM (ET)

Register for this event via Zoom

Aly Bailey is a MITACS Post-Doctoral Fellow at McMaster University and Adjunct Professor at the University of Guelph. Currently, Dr. Bailey is Principal Investigator on a SSHRC Insight Development Grant titled, “ReVisioning Fitness”. Her research program falls at the intersection of kinesiology and social justice, with a focus on bringing research to action and striving for more equitable inclusion and accessibility practices.

Presentation Abstract:

Eugenics is often understood as a historical event that occurred outside the borders of Canada and promptly ended after World War II. Less is known about Canada’s involvement in the movement, and even less about how contemporary physical activity practices continue to be tethered to eugenic ideas of “fitness.” ReVisioning Fitness aims to counter eugenic-entangled fitness practices, and centres the lived experiences of trans, non-binary, queer, Black, racialized, disabled, Mad, neurodivergent, and fat/thick/thicc/curvy people. Our community and arts-based work is a collective resistance of the dominant power relations that preclude bodies of difference from so-called “fitness” spaces. We build queer, crip, and thick/thicc alliances using disability multimedia art (digital stories and a minidocumentary) that we share with fitness stakeholders in hopes to build more equitable physical activity futures. This presentation will include an overview of our collaborative work thus far, including collective analysis, publishing/authoring, artmaking, working with fitness stakeholders, and our future community endeavors.

All are welcome to attend this FREE virtual session. This is the LAST #HASTalks seminar for the 2022-23 academic year.

Please note: This session may be recorded. Please be aware that any materials entered, exchanged, or viewed by participants during the session may be recorded.