Defining the new male ideal

vancity_cowboy

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Quote from the link:

"As women gain more financial power in society, men are expected to bring more to the table," Addis said. "In addition to being financially successful, they need to be well-groomed, in good shape, emotionally skilled in relationships and the emphasis on looking good is just part of the bigger package -- the stakes have been raised."

Some psychologists and trend watchers said the male muscle obsession only grew during the last few years. As the economy struggled, men were sent looking for aspects of their lives they could define and control. Body image is, at times, the only thing.

"Men can't control how much money they make or their employment situation, but they can control how they look. It can create this obsessiveness," said Sarah Toland, senior health editor for Men's Journal."
more like... as more younger men find they are able to live comfortably off their parent's trust funds, or the proceeds of crime, and don't have to work to provide for their own families, they have lots more time to fritter away in the gym in self-indulgent, narcissistic activities like weight lifting. this has the added benefit of allowing them to look like they have spent time in prison, where weight lifting is one of the few acceptable activities, therefore enhancing their reputation among their gangsta buddies :crazy:
 

Dgodus

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Um I grew up playing sports year round. Being fit and toned was always the ideal, for functionable purposes though. Working 10-12 hr shifts anywheres from 7-21 days straight I've still got time/energy for the gym. Mind you I'm not married and in a camp the gym is like 3 mins down the hall (worst I had to do was cross a parking lot).
 

vancity_cowboy

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Um I grew up playing sports year round. Being fit and toned was always the ideal, for functionable purposes though. Working 10-12 hr shifts anywheres from 7-21 days straight I've still got time/energy for the gym. Mind you I'm not married and in a camp the gym is like 3 mins down the hall (worst I had to do was cross a parking lot).
and does your body look like the dude on the left in the op's posted pic?
 

Dgodus

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and does your body look like the dude on the left in the op's posted pic?
Oh fuck no!! I'm a naturally skinny guy. I would need a pretty strict diet to look like that. Seeing as I don't have a personal kitchen and my food is prepped for me in a cafeteria, I don't really have the option. But I do look pretty decent for a skinny bitch. Too bad my face looks like it's been smashed with a shovel!

Besides I gear more towards toning than I do max lifting for bulk or whatever. Whole reason I go now a days is I've got old injuries which need constant stretching out and the surrounding muscles strengthened or else I hurt. So I guess I've got extra motivation. A body like that isn't a gym product as much as its a diet product.
 

vancity_cowboy

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Oh fuck no!! I'm a naturally skinny guy. I would need a pretty strict diet to look like that. Seeing as I don't have a personal kitchen and my food is prepped for me in a cafeteria, I don't really have the option. But I do look pretty decent for a skinny bitch. Too bad my face looks like it's been smashed with a shovel!

Besides I gear more towards toning than I do max lifting for bulk or whatever. Whole reason I go now a days is I've got old injuries which need constant stretching out and the surrounding muscles strengthened or else I hurt. So I guess I've got extra motivation. A body like that isn't a gym product as much as its a diet product.
that's the point i was trying to make - that a normal strong fit person (like yourself :) ) doesn't look like the 'roid monkey in the photo. only self indulgent, narcissistic rich kids look like that... and no, that DOES NOT define the new male ideal!

the guy on the right looks like a normal working stiff, chained to a desk all day, then he eats junk food on the fly as he's taking the kids to their whatever practice or game, then he flops down to watch a hockey game while he quaffs a few beers and eats chips, and some yellow journalist puts his photo beside a photo of a 'roid monkey and tries to make him look stupid because he's not the 'new male ideal'

hogwash i say... this country runs on the backs of guys that look like him. sure he should get a handle on it before he has heart problems, and maybe he won't until he finds himself a pallbearer at his fat ex-buddy's funeral, or he finds himself flat on the gurney in the emergency ward while they make a booking for bypass surgery for him

but whatever, he IS the male ideal - whether some yellow jounalist tries to sell papers on his image or not - and i tip my hat to him :nod:
 

Dgodus

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Although the two photos show one thing, the article actually mentions something different. It (I'll read again later to make sure) talks about the new ideal being the swimmer's body, a body that is fit and looking good without looking like a whole bunch of work was put into and moving away from the bulled up upper body with the chicken legs of beach body juicers (such as the personal trainer shown). This is what I'm referring to as always having been the ideal, and also what I'm referencing when I saw it's not hard to achieve (in fact an active lifestyle will accomplish it, me being skinny I do gym to have some definition I would never have otherwise). In fact my father now comes to the gym (for health reasons) and looks better than I've ever seen him look, he spends very little time there as well.

The two photos shown are a side story within the article of a personal trainer gaining 70lbs then losing it to gain better understanding of his clients situation, show it can be done, and also write a book on it for profit. They aren't an accurate representation of the ideal discussed in the article.

Don't misunderstand that I'm vehemently opposed to someone being overweight either; that would make me a hypocrite as I'm a filthy smoker (last bad habit left! Man it's a tough one).
 

InTheBum

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Quote from the link:

"As a professor for 17 years and counting, Addis has observed how the male college students in his classes have changed and adapted to shifting cultural norms. In recent years, more of them spend time in the gym, focus on their appearance and monitor body mass.

Most aren't trying to lose weight -- they're documenting their physique, he said. It's a far cry from the male celebrities of the 1950s -- think Spencer Tracey or Robert Mitchum -- who wore their heftiness as a sign of financial success or a way to demonstrate masculinity, Addis said.

He attributes the change to shifting gender roles.

"As women gain more financial power in society, men are expected to bring more to the table," Addis said. "In addition to being financially successful, they need to be well-groomed, in good shape, emotionally skilled in relationships and the emphasis on looking good is just part of the bigger package -- the stakes have been raised."

Some psychologists and trend watchers said the male muscle obsession only grew during the last few years. As the economy struggled, men were sent looking for aspects of their lives they could define and control. Body image is, at times, the only thing.

"Men can't control how much money they make or their employment situation, but they can control how they look. It can create this obsessiveness," said Sarah Toland, senior health editor for Men's Journal."
Funny how the emphasis is on men...
 

vancity_cowboy

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...that would make me a hypocrite as I'm a filthy smoker (last bad habit left! Man it's a tough one).
i hear ya, that smoking is a bitch - especially when you're the marlboro man! cheers, :)
 

threepeat

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The part I don't get is how this supposed obsession with body reconciles with the growing obesity problem in the U.S. and to a lesser extent Canada.

If we as a gender are in factor obsessed with our physique, we don't seem to be doing much about it.

 

vancity_cowboy

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a lot of the obesity 'problem' has to do with the medical fraternity redefining obesity, then yellow journalists either not understanding the re-definition or deliberately ignoring it to get more alarming comparisons on which to base their inflammatory jounalism. sells papers and articles though, and there's even grant dough for 'research' on obesity
 
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