Body Image

Over the years, men have started paying attention to there body image as much as women due to pop culture. John Cloud, the author of “Never to Buff” and Liz Jones, the author of “What I think of the fashion world” discuss what pop culture has done to the body image of society and what has influenced the change in how people see themselves.

The last thing I do before I go out, wither its to class, out to eat, or just over to a friends house is look in the mirror to see if I look acceptable. I know that might sound kind of Feminine but believe it or not im not the only guy who does this. Now a days, men are required to look a certain way due to pop culture. There is a certain standard that was set by pop culture and men who think they are below this standard start trying to change their appearance or body image. Every time I turn on the TV, no matter what channel its on the men on there are good looking. Wither it’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger muscles or the brad pitt face, it makes the guy watching wonder about himself and his appearance. Cloud says, in his essay, “Never to Buff” that “50 % of men do not like their overall appearance”. One of the most common ways a man can change his appearance is by working out and gaining muscle mass. Sometimes it is hard for a man to do this so they rely on other things to help there muscles get bigger and one of those things is steroids. This is very common with people who have low self a steam because they look at people with huge chests and biceps and a perfect 6 pack on the television all day and think I need to look like that. Which is entirely untrue. Body image is influenced at a very young age. In Clouds essay, “Never to Buff” he talks about how the new GI Joes are more buff then the old ones. Also, in the computer game Duke Nukem, Duke gets extra life whenever he picks up a cycle of steroids. This is pretty much telling our youth that it is normal for someone to be on steroids. One thing that John Cloud didn’t mention in his speech “Never to Buff” is how sports has a huge effect on our body image. Have you ever been to a little league baseball game where there was a slightly smaller than average kid at the plate and you here someone yell “outfield, move in”. or saw someone who didn’t get picked in a football game because they were overweight. As a child this can cause some low self a steam which can result in steroid use or eating disorders. In the essay “Never to Buff” Cloud says that “forty percent of men go on compulsive eating sprees”. Six years ago, in the NFL, there was only half a dozen people who weighed over 300 pounds. Now there is at least 2 on every