Never too Buff Essay

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John Clouds Essay “Never Too Buff” explores the idea that men suffer from the same neurosis concerning their body image as women do. Just as women aspire to be supermodel thin; according to a psychological study called The Adonis Complex men equally obsess over attaining the perfect body. Men want to emulate Adonis, a “gorgeous half man half god” depicted in Greek mythology. The male population will go to great lengths to achieve this impossible standard of beauty by engaging in the use of illegal steroids and crazy diets. Just as women feel they are never thin enough, men feel they are never buff enough. I believe that the author’s purpose was to provoke empathy and understanding concerning the male ego in a society that is more apt to be concerned with women’s issues. I couldn’t agree more with the author.
One of my favorite lines from this article is, “an increasing number of men would rather look brawny for their girlfriends than have sex with them”. There is often truth in humor and I believe this statement was meant to be as powerful as it is funny. I remember dating a gym rat for over two years. I had to compete with his gym schedule for attention. He would rather go to the gym than enjoy a relaxing day at the pool with his girlfriend. I sat on the sidelines while he drank protein shake after protein shake, only to later starve himself for three days straight trying to “get cut up” in his words. I found it pitiful that he was so concerned with his body because underneath it all he was a great guy with a lot to offer. He found his self-esteem and personal worth through his biceps. My next boyfriend was more of an intellectual and graduated from Villanova but he too bombarded me with questions like, “Should I take steroids? Am I too skinny? It was annoying. If you don’t believe that my personal experience is credible than take a peek at the statistics presented in the article. For example Cloud states that 40 percent of Americans who go on compulsive eating sprees are men, 38 percent want bigger pecs, and more boys fret about teenage acne than girls. According to the article men spent over $2 billion for gym memberships, and another $2 billion for home exercise equipment. Money doesn’t lie! In regards to the use of Anabolic steroids, two of my ex-boyfriends readily admitted to using them in order to achieve quicker, more defined results than dieting and exercise alone. We discussed in class the growing trend of professional athletes who have been caught juicing such as Mark McGuire and Lance Armstrong. The article uses Hulk Hogan as an example who was a pro wrestling idol to many men, young and old in the late
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