Hunky media images have negative effects on men, spark reckless behavior
“Body image is not just a concern for women,” says researcher Deborah Schooler, who’s looked into the adverse effects such media images can have on male self-esteem. “It affects men, too, and it demands attention.”
...Does all this mean it’s unhealthy for “Average Joes,” as the researchers titled their study, to aspire to the lean, muscular body idealized by Michelangelo and Abercrombie alike? One prominent promoter of men’s fitness argues no — unless, of course, it’s an obsession.“What’s good about that image is that it’s the picture of health,” says David Zinczenko, editor of Men’s Health magazine and a best-selling diet author. “With diabetes rates skyrocketing over the past 70 years, a little more ‘lean’ wouldn’t hurt us.”
Zinczenko points to all the role models with healthy and realistic bodies that have graced magazine covers: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman.
...And what of [Jack] LaLanne, now 92, who so depressed the young Simmons decades ago that he turned off the TV?
Of the incessant media images, the still-avid exerciser says, “Maybe at least that’ll get ’em out doing something!” Aspiring to today’s ideal body is fine, he says, as long as it’s what you want. He deplores, though, the overly muscular type that “looks like they use steroids. Once you start fooling with Mother Nature, you’re in trouble.”
As for his own image issues, LaLanne, who still works out two hours every morning, says they’re soley focused on sticking around a while longer.
“I can’t afford to die,” LaLanne explains. “It would wreck my image.”
1 comment:
that pic may be "the picture of health" but it's not the ONLY picture of health. It sets an unattainable a goal if someone is simply not genetically destined to be shaped that way. Big guys can be healthy, little skinny ass guys can be healthy, but they might never be able to have the musculature of that dude. And i for one am ok with that; i like the look of variety.
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