Male Body Image - Obsessed With Muscles?
The current issue of the Harvard Gazette has a superb article about a study into the Western male's obsession with muscles. The study compares the West (i.e. US, Europe, Australia) with the East (i.e. Taiwan, China).
When tested, Western men guessed that women prefer a "buff" body with 20-30 pounds more muscle than average. But when women were asked to choose their preferences, they picked male bodies much closer to average.
What is disturbing is that "...more Western men are resorting to anabolic steroids". In stark contrast, there is almost a complete lack of interest in anabolic steroids in the East.
The authors of the study try to find the reasons for this - they come up with some fascinating thoughts:
Yang points out, in the United States, men's health and fitness magazines are often crowded with steroid-enhanced muscular images. In comparison, he found no comparable Taiwanese magazines in a search of some of that country's largest bookstores.
The study also points to gender confusion: "some Western men are fixating on muscularity as 'the last bastion of masculinity.'"
In the West we are constantly confronted by images of six pack abs, rippling deltoids, and defined pectorals. As a male, you can't help feeling less-than-best. However the dedication, commitment, and focus required to achieve such a body can easily turn into an obsession.
On a popular forum I often see a recurring goal as to why men are pumping iron and being on restrictive diets: "To look good with my shirt off". The question to be asked it "looking good according to whom?"
Thoughts?
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I think most guys are beggining to understand that woman don't really care about, or even like, lots of muscle...
Muscle DEFINITION, however (ie: ripped abs), is another story....
Fortunately, it's more a matter of correct diet and training than taking anabolic drugs.
Miguel
Replyhttp://www.dietbasics.toolkitz.com/
I'm gonna have to go with Miguel on this one. I think American women have shifted away from big to lean-and-mean. I personally stopped taking creatine and focus more on definition that bulking up, and have noticed a significant difference in the amount of "looks" I get in public since I made this switch.
Steroids...def. not the answer. Especially if you want to be sleeping with these women that you meet. (Impotence is a risk with AAS).
~Drew
ReplyI dont understand the male point of view here. It seems that dissatisfaction with bodies is a worldwide issue and most of us are getting it wrong. Guys think they need to be full of muscles whilst women want average guys. But when it is the other way around, guys will be happier picking the slim, curvy woman and this message means that women are starving themselves to make them moew appealing. How are the messaages meant to be understood if we are all so convinced that our natural body is wrong and/or ugly.
ReplyWhat happened to 'your body is a temple'?
These "findings" sound like a license to be lazy according to me. You guys making every excuse not to exercise your fat ass's enjoy looking repulsive
No one is digging no matter what this study says.
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