ENTERTAINMENT, ADVERTISING AND IMAGE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF BODYBUILDING CENTERS IN AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the bodybuilding billboards in Afghanistan, because they allow us to understand certain social changes taking place in the country. These posters are one of the most widespread visual representations along with advertisements of wedding halls, banking and mobile telephony. Based on visual sociology, the methodology used was the study of over two hundred posters. The emergence of these bodybuilding centers announces the rise of a new type of society that tries to combine the traditions of the Afghan people with the ideas, products and services coming from abroad and encouraging a growing interest in body cult and a certain individualistic and narcissistic perception of the individual.