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Whitehead 1

“I Want Muscles like that Guy!”

Males and Body Image: The Effects of the Media Reach More than Just Women

Megan WhiteheadProfessor WilkersonEnglish 10329 October 2009Megan Whitehead

Whitehead 2Professor WilkersonEnglish 10329 October 2009

“I Want Muscles like that Guy!”

Males and Body Image: The Effects of the Media Reach More than Just Women

Many Americans are familiar with the claims that the media plays a significant role ininfluencing female body image. There has been a noteworthy amount of research which hasinvestigated the link between media influence and eating disorders among teenage girls, as wellas the link between female celebrities and athletes and the resulting low self-esteem of thefemale audience. However, has anyone thought about the guys? Men have long been thought to be free from pressures to shape their bodies in a certain manner because they had other avenuesupon which to base their self-opinion (Crandall). However, while women have been the major source of concern, there has been a recently rising debate that male body image is also heavilyinfluenced by the media, from athletes to clothing advertisements, and from action figures andcomic book heroes to “muscle-enhancing” supplements. In a recent surge of male-directedmedia, men are becoming more and more aware of their own body. Numerous articles argue that the media traditionally distorts only the images of femaleathletes, degrading women everywhere. One such article presents that, “Photos of successfulmale athletes overwhelmingly show them in serious, action poses, while powerhouse women areoften trivialized, romanticized, and sexualized”(Holste, 2000). The article references bothscholars and womens’ sports experts in continuing its argument, claiming that men often find powerful and athletic women “threatening”, and therefore must portray them in a much moredelicate fashion so as to not be intimidated.

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However, it is possible to read a bit deeper into this supposed “insecurity” of men. Yes,women are becoming more and more stereotyped by sports media, but aren’t men as well? Incontrast to women, men are shown as being strong, hardy, determined, and tough. Isn’t this astereotype that has the potential to negatively influence male body image? Male athletes in themedia are often portrayed as the “epitome of manliness”(Rehberg, 2001). In the report “Boys ToMen: Media Messages about Masculinity”, the authors identify “The Jock” as one of the most popular stereotypes in the media. The report goes on to define the jock as being willing tocompromise his long-term health for short-term athletic success, feeling a necessity to “fightother men” in games of sport, avoiding “softness” in favor of being aggressive, anddemonstrating “his power and strength … to win the approval of other men and the adoration of women” (Children Now). While there is limited research on such stereotypes, it is notunreasonable to assume that such portrayals in the sports media can and do have a significantimpact on American males. Although most of the focus is still on females and their “unfair” portrayal in sports, there are subtle suggestions that do point to a potential issue with maleinfluences as well. For example, ESPN’s website - a prominent sports programming network -has listed the top 10 hottest male athletes on one of its main pages (“Hottest Male Athletes”).According to the New York Daily News,

“

While we admire [male] professional athletes for their incredible abilities, it doesn't hurt that they also have some of the world's hottest bodies”(“Hottest Male Athletes”). In a journal article from

Evolution and Human Behavior

, researchconcluded that student athletes claimed to have more sexual partners than non-athletes,supporting the theory that athlete equals attractive (Faurie, Charlotte, Dominique Pontier, andMichel Raymond). Furthermore, it has been noted that the adolescent male is, just like his femalecounterpart, vulnerable to pressures to attain the “ideal” body. The “ideal” male body consists of a masculine physique, tallness, and muscularity (Parks, Pamela S. McKay and Marsha H. Read).

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