Though it's tempting to look at hair as a concrete reflection of
the role of males in society, Pertschuk feels it may be more indicative
of rebellion, of setting oneself apart from an existing social order.
Boys coming of age in the rebellious 1960s wore their hair long and grew
beards in a gesture. The next generation was clean shaven. The punks dyed
their hair fluorescent pinks and greens, spiked it, and shaved their
heads in Mohawk designs--a veiled threat, an attempt to upset and defy
the existing order.
BODY BUILD: THE MUSCULAR MALE
The showy, muscle-bound heroes of today are a far cry from
yesteryear's aristocratic heartthrobs--Cary Grant, John Barrymore. And
although Charles Atlas body-building ads pumped up the back pages of
magazines and comic books as far back as the 1920s, we are witnessing a
new fascination with the perfectly proportioned, tautly muscled male god.
"When women swoon over these men," notes Gilmore, "it's not unlike the
response men have when they see a beautiful woman. Men like to be sex
objects, too. It's never been acknowledged, because that desire is not
considered manly, and the more urgent need is to appear masculine. But
studies have shown that men envy women their ability to attract and
command the attention based simply on their appearance."
This cultural emphasis on a specific male type has a definite dark
side--the growing number of men suffering from body image disorders.
According to Steven Romano, M.D., Director of the Outpatient Eating
Disorders Clinic at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center's
Westchester Division, "I'm seeing more and more males who have body image
disturbances. They are compulsive exercisers, and there are a number of
steroid abuses." Another expert calls it "reverse anorexia."
"Psychologically, this group is very tied to female anorexics,"
says Romano. "Just as the anorexic continues to see herself as fat even
though she's thin, these males are well muscled but they look in the
mirror and see themselves as too thin. They are judging themselves by the
ideal projected in the media. I had a 19-year-old walk in who said he had
to look like Marky Mark. He would only eat a diet that allowed him to
build muscle. These men tend to be straight males who think a
well-muscled physique is what women are interested in."
Gilmore concurs. In interviewing men about body image, he found
"body anxiety is related to appearing unmasculine or effeminate. This
obsession especially attaches to body hair, chest development, waist, and
hips. Our culture lays considerable stress on a manly physique."
No wonder, then, that the male PT readers who responded to the
survey indicated that they value muscle mass. Yet male fascination with
muscles may have more to do with other men than with women. "Women don't
know what goes on in the playing field among boys," insists Gilmore.
"It's very cruel. Boys are beaten up if they don't measure up. To be
masculine requires a certain musculature."
The new male fascination with muscle may indeed hold destructive
potential for men--though perhaps less so than the female ideal does for
women. Women who starve themselves to reach a cultural ideal of feminine
beauty are damaging their physical health; men who exercise and work out
at the gym to build muscle may still eat well. Yet if men feel compelled
to make over their bodies to achieve difficult aesthetic goals, they may
be opening themselves to problems with steroid abuse, musculoskeletal
injury, and eating disorders. If weight is a male concern, it has more to
do with looking effeminate, puny, and thin than carrying a few excess
pounds.
THE PENIS
Where is the essence of masculine power distilled, if not in the
penis? The penis is the visible badge of masculinity. If the ideal of the
sublime, the majestic, the truly masculine resides in power, size, and
the ability to attract women and make one's mark on the world, no body
part is more symbolic than the phallus. Popular culture, and pornography
in particular, link penis size with male appeal. Yet there is an opposing
thread in our culture that says size doesn't matter. The origin of this
belief is the work of Masters and Johnson, who reported that smaller,
flaccid penises become larger upon erection than do larger flaccid penis.
This is not entirely true, but most sex manuals indicate that size does
not matter.
"Not surprisingly," reports Pertschuk, "feelings and attitudes
about penis size reflected the general upheaval in our culture where male
body image is concerned. Questions about male genitals elicited many
passionate comments--but the one constant was that women were evenly
divided about the importance of organ size. Fully half preferred it
large--the other half was unconcerned or disliked a big penis."
MALE BODY AS CULTURAL CRUCIBLE
Our culture has never openly addressed the reason masculine beauty
matters so much. There is a long Western tradition merging aesthetics and
ethics, stretching back to Plato's belief that the beautiful is good--and
in particular, that masculine power is the ideal emblem of our culture.
"This moral primacy of male beauty," muses David Gilmore, "this
exaltation of maleness as both heroic and beautiful places a powerful
stress on males. Masculinity becomes an apotheosis of national identity.
The erotic and social appeal of a virile, handsome, muscular man
successfully accomplishing some task is very strong. It's what our
culture prizes above all. Men experience deep psychic terror of failing
literally to embody national ideals."
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