Saturday 13 September 2008

Oh my Threatened Masculinity!

In university, I wrote a paper on the origins of the male archetype in society. Since the value North American men placed on size has always intrigued me, I figured I'd get through the assignment with minimal boredom. Muddling through the research, I stumbled on an interesting theory that talked about a 'threatened masculinity' that has manifested over the last half-century. Long story short, North American men decided that having bigger muscles was the only way they had left to reassert dominance over women after WWII. During the war, with the brave men defending the country, the ever-scheming women entered into the workforce to replace the newly-vacant positions. As a result, women shared a new level of equality with men in the aftermath. Anyway, the researchers looked at Playgirl mags (explain that one to the librarian) from the past 10 years and measured the widths of their arms and chest. Big surprise - it increased pretty significantly. Equally interesting, the same trend was seen in the girth measurements of action figures. A GI JOE figure in 1980 was dwarfed by its successor 5 years later. 


Now if that's not enough to convince you, compare Hollywood stars Jimmy Stewart of yesteryear to Arnie or Stallone. 

I'd like to think that the men of today aren't that threatened by a powerful woman - but that's not entirely true is it. The alpha male still exists and he hates (or fears?) the dominant woman. Personally, I find an independent woman incredibly sexy, but I can empathize with the gorillas out there. 

To clarify my own reasons for lifting, I do it because I value the return I get on my investment. In a world where being lazy is far too easy, fashionable even, I actually like making things harder on myself. At the end of the day, you're a product of your choices and the experiences you have because of them. Maybe I'm just hoping this will help to make me something I can be proud of. 

Thoughts?

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