-------------------- Conceived on the basis of a survey on the « tanking » community's practices, this article is attempting to highlight a new typical activity in today's society which is quite different from instrumental and symbolic (or communication- based) activities. It is actually describing the ways in which some individuals are endeavouring to gain a victory over themselves through experiments on their own personal being. The various forms of action and the means used for that purpose are referred to under (...) the name of self-fashioning technologies. (shrink)