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THE BODY IMAGES MEN CAN'T SHAKE

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 30, 2007

When Charles Atlas warned boys in the 1930s not to let bullies kick sand in their faces, he advertised his bodybuilding program with other novelties in comic books.

As they gave up the funnies, young men usually left their dreams of a Mr. Universe physique behind.

It was easy enough to do then. Matinee stars such as Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart were no musclemen, and they still got the girls. Even into the 1960s, pop-culture icons were more brain than brawn. The toy G.I. Joe was a regular-looking guy.

Today, G.I. Joe's proportions are freakishly huge. Buffed, well-cut men display their shirtless physiques in movies and on television. Even Charles Atlas Ltd. now sells dietary supplements online.

In 1972, a Psychology Today study found that 75 percent of men felt fine about how they looked. When the study was repeated 25 years later, the number had fallen to 33 percent. Today, some studies report that 97 percent of men are dissatisfied with at least one part of their bodies.

'There seems to be pressure on men now from Madison Avenue and the media to achieve an ideal of bodily perfection which before now seemed to be only focused on women,' says Kevin Thompson, psychology professor at the University of South Florida.

Some men resort to silicone muscle implants. Others starve to lose weight. Some use steroids and other dangerous substances to build muscles.

'It's kind of mind-boggling and hard to explain,' one young man from St. Petersburg says. 'It's the only thing I can control. You can't control the way your face looks, but I can control the way the rest of my body is.'

Donna Koehn

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