Bodies That Transform: Tactical Oscillation in a World of Warring Logics

Rafaela C. Davide and Jeff B. Murray

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2026, vol. 11, issue 4, 383 - 396

Abstract: Although consumers’ access to new markets has expanded, normative structures often remain partly intact. One such consumption practice is martial arts, where women’s gendered bodies remain out of sync with the field’s enduring masculine logic. This condition is defined as hysteresis—a mismatch between habitus and field. While a growing body of research investigates how consumers negotiate hysteresis, much of this work undertheorizes the body’s potential emancipatory role in navigating this misalignment. Through a Bourdieusian and feminist lens, we introduce the concept of tactical oscillation that accounts for how women martial artists collectively negotiate embodied hysteresis through bodily practice. Guided by the extended case method, we present three interrelated themes: (1) antecedents of tactical oscillation, (2) tactical oscillation in practice, and (3) microdisruptions as ongoing outcomes of tactical oscillation.

Date: 2026
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