Is social homophobia responsible for today's mass monsters?

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Interesting article I came across, thought I'd share.

Has Gay Panic Ruined Bodybuilding?


By Adam Ragusea

If you’ve ever seen a picture of a contemporary male professional bodybuilder and thought, “Dear lord, why would anyone want to look at that, much less look like that?” know that Arnold Schwarzenegger, of all people, agrees with you.

Yes, the man whose brawn took him from the tiny Austrian village of his birth to the heights of competitive bodybuilding, Hollywood stardom, and California politics thinks there’s such a thing as too much muscle. He laid an epic burn on pro bodybuilding last month during a Q&A that followed the 2015 Arnold Classic—now the second-biggest bodybuilding competition of the year after the older Mr. Olympia (which Schwarzenegger won seven times back in his pro career).

“I was pissed off,” Schwarzenegger said of the judges’ decisions, which placed walking beef charts http://www.bodybuilding.com/contest_media/31712/2/d/img_40371425776335.jpg and http://www.bodybuilding.com/contest_media/31712/36072/d/img_40021425776333.jpgabove http://www.bodybuilding.com/contest_media/31712/52222/d/img_41811425776344.jpg, who is known in typically euphemistic, desexualized bodybuilding-speak as a more “aesthetic” competitor. While McMillan is also hugely muscular by the standards of mere mortals, it’s not so extreme that he looks more like a tank than a Ken doll, as Warren does. McMillan’s competitive edge is the symmetry and balance of his body, the lines of which flow in a way that normal people might identify as “attractive.”

“The question is, ‘Whose body would I want to have?’ ” Schwarzenegger said, proposing what he believes should be the ultimate judging criterion but definitely isn’t. “I think that Cedric had such a beautiful body, he was so well-proportioned, that I think he should have placed higher than he did.”

Beautiful?Did he say beautiful?

It’s rare to hear anyone in the insecurely hyper-hetero world of contemporary bodybuilding describe a man’s body as beautiful, though that is ultimately what this “sport” is about. Competitors aren’t judged on their strength (that’s the domain of powerlifting, Olympic lifting, strongman competitions, etc.) but on the appearance of their muscular physiques. It’s a manly beauty pageant that calls itself a sport so the other boys won’t laugh at it.

Schwarzenegger, of course, has probably gotten more lady tail over the years thanGene Simmons and is therefore comfortable enough with his sexuality to look at bodybuilding for what it is—a combination performance and body art that’s all about transforming oneself into a living Michelangelo sculpture. Dance is athletic too, but that doesn’t make it a sport.

The Governator continued his rant, recalling the early bodybuilder and actor Steve Reeves from the generation before his own. “If you saw him at the beach, you’d say to yourself, ‘I would love to have this guy’s body. Wow, look at how beautiful this man looks.’ But that’s not what you can say about those guys today that win those competitions.”

Indeed, though Schwarzenegger himself is remembered by many in bodybuilding as the greatest of all time, if the Arnold we see in the 1977 documentary Pumping Ironshowed up to an IFBB competition today, he likely wouldn’t make the top five. His chest and biceps were world-class by contemporary standards, but most other body parts would be regarded as too small, particularly his legs. The current reigning Mr. Olympia, http://phillipheath.com/about/, boasts thighs that are each wider around than his waist.

What the hell happened in a generation? In a word, drugs. In Schwarzenegger’s day, lots of pro bodybuilders took steroids, but in the ’90s, all kinds of other performance enhancers became common, notably human growth hormone, which 1992-97 Mr. Olympia https://crazyaboutfitness.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/dorian_yates_seated_dumbbell.jpg partially credits for his own transformation into a “mass monster,” as such competitors became known. (Bodybuilders’ use of these drugs is of varying levels of legality, which is why the ubiquity of PEDs in the upper echelons of the “sport” is typically only acknowledged publicly by retired competitors, such as Yates. For the record, you also have to work out really hard to get that big; the drugs alone don’t do it.)

But with these new, huger muscles came an unexpected side effect: the muscle gut. The biggest guys have big bellies, even when they drop to painfully low body fat percentages for competition. They try to suck it in on stage, but the second they relaxor turn their backs to the judges, boom, http://www.bodybuilding.com/contest_media/2542/110/d/img_93301204422350.jpg.

So if the guys are so lean, what’s inside those pregnant-looking bellies? http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/i/2012/08/02/TOTAL-RECALL-KUATO.jpg fromTotal Recall? Science has thus far had better things to study, so all we’re left with is what bodybuilders call “bro science.” One theory is that the insulin shots that some guys take to stimulate muscle growth also result in the retention of hard-to-lose visceral fat. Bodybuilders have to eat huge amounts of food, a meal every three hours or so, which leads to another theory: those heaps of muscle-building protein and carbs permanently stretch the abdominal wall. The theory I find most credible goes back to growth hormone—real science has shown that it makes all your tissues grow, your muscles, but also your internal organs, so maybe bodybuilders just have giant innards. Sexy, right?

“So many of those guys have their stomachs sticking out,” Schwarzenegger said in his recent tirade. “It used to be that you should have a V-shaped body. Now, I don’t know, it’s kind of like a bottle-shaped body.”

As someone who has dabbled in bodybuilding and followed the “sport” for years, I think there’s a reason why it and the bodybuilding-supplement-industrial-complex has grown in popularity and profitability while the physiques have strayed further from the general culture’s aesthetic ideal: It’s all about making straight dudes feel secure watching oiled men flex and pose in tiny skivvies.

Bodybuilding in Arnold’s day was undeniably intertwined with gay culture, and early muscle men like Reeves were gay icons. Now, no one but the most ardent muscle fetishist would want to have sex with the cartoon characters who place at Mr. Olympia or the Arnold Classic. They’ve gone from flesh-and-bone Davids to circus freaks, and it’s a lot safer for an unenlightened meathead to idolize another man for his genetic and gym/drug/diet-fueled freakishness than his beauty.

Straight bodybuilding fans (and I remain one, don’t ask me why) have to do intense mental gymnastics to convince themselves they’re not watching male exotic dancing when they sit through a bodybuilder’s posing routine. That’s a hard thing to do when competitors are expected to turn their backs to the crowd, hike up the bottom of their “posing trunks” to expose their glutes, and show off the striations that occur there when one reaches near-fatal levels of leanness.

You can understand why props and extra clothes are forbidden at the Mr. Olympia, because when the competitor takes them off, it starts to look like a striptease.

Kai Greene, an enthusiastic user of costumes in his non-competitive appearances and easily big-time bodybuilding’s most artistic and creative star, has noticeably reined in his once elaborate, dancelike posing routines in recent years, as he’s become a contender for the top title. I suspect this is so he doesn’t risk alienating the core judging and fan constituency that is still queasy about his long-ago appearance in a homoerotic film in which he made love to a grapefruit. (So incredibly NSFW.)

To my surprise, however, Schwarzenegger’s remarks have been met with near-universal acclaim in the bodybuilding community. While head IFBB judge Jim Manion has been notably silent (Schwarzenegger urged fans to “call out on him” for pushing judging standards that reward maximum freakishness), prominent voices in the fan community are calling for judging reforms that would bring back the “aesthetic” physiques.

“If you reward the right guys, then everyone will start training to have a beautiful body again,” Schwarzenegger said, again feeling no need to append his comments with the “no homo” qualifier that is so often used on bodybuilding message boards.

What the muscle mag/pill/powder-buying masses will have to ask themselves is: Will you be comfortable that, bro?

Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/...ng.html?wpisrc=obnetwork#lf_comment=291873886
 
Straight bodybuilding fans (and I remain one, don’t ask me why) have to do intense mental gymnastics to convince themselves they’re not watching male exotic dancing when they sit through a bodybuilder’s posing routine.

I think if you have to reconcile the fact that "this is okay, it's not gay" in your head or cringe at someone describing a guy as aesthetic or beautiful then sports aren't for you. Compeititon isn't for you. Not everybody that watches or trains is either gay or a homophobe! Most of us just don't give a shit.
 
I think if you have to reconcile the fact that "this is okay, it's not gay" in your head or cringe at someone describing a guy as aesthetic or beautiful then sports aren't for you. Compeititon isn't for you. Not everybody that watches or trains is either gay or a homophobe! Most of us just don't give a shit.

I agree. If you can't objectively agree that a man is good looking/aesthetic/beautiful then it's probably because you actually have a sexual desire for men and you are afraid of it and/or of others knowing you do. I'm not quite sure when an appreciation of the humanly form came to mean the same thing as wanting to have sex with it, but apparently that's what a lot of people believe these days.
 
I think if you have to reconcile the fact that "this is okay, it's not gay" in your head or cringe at someone describing a guy as aesthetic or beautiful then sports aren't for you. Compeititon isn't for you. Not everybody that watches or trains is either gay or a homophobe! Most of us just don't give a shit.

I couldnt agree more. I used to play waterpolo and swim team and rocked a speedo. Alot of other sports like football and baseball though it was "gay." Did I feel gay? Never! I knew I had a better body than all of those guys and rocked a speedo. We also had the most girls at our matches because we were the most in shape/cut. So in the end, I got way more pussy than the guys that called us gay, go figure.
 
Interesting concept here. I see what the author is getting at.

Sadly it may be true.. Pathetic if so. Although I think most in the bb world don't think this way, it's more the outside people who have no idea what bodybuilding is all about.

Oh and the whole "no homo" thing is so fucking annoying. Glad they touched on that.
 
Interesting concept here. I see what the author is getting at.

Sadly it may be true.. Pathetic if so. Although I think most in the bb world don't think this way, it's more the outside people who have no idea what bodybuilding is all about.

I think that there was a time when most of the bb world did think this way and it still may be that way but is kind of regressing. As much as Zyzz was an idiot when it came to drugs, partying, and his treatment of women, his whole mirin and aesthetics over everything brought a lot of kids into thinking it's ok to admire another mans body (zyzz definitely isn't a sole contributor but im just using him as an example. Unfortunately, a lot of them also say no homo after everything so they only think it's ok as long as the designate that they are not homo. So it's a step in the right direction at least, young men just need to be taught to be comfortable with their own sexuality and people need to stop being such dicks to gays. People are such assholes to homosexuals that we have straight men so worried about being seen as homosexuals they have to declare they are not after half the shit they say.
 
I think that there was a time when most of the bb world did think this way and it still may be that way but is kind of regressing. As much as Zyzz was an idiot when it came to drugs, partying, and his treatment of women, his whole mirin and aesthetics over everything brought a lot of kids into thinking it's ok to admire another mans body (zyzz definitely isn't a sole contributor but im just using him as an example. Unfortunately, a lot of them also say no homo after everything so they only think it's ok as long as the designate that they are not homo. So it's a step in the right direction at least, young men just need to be taught to be comfortable with their own sexuality and people need to stop being such dicks to gays. People are such assholes to homosexuals that we have straight men so worried about being seen as homosexuals they have to declare they are not after half the shit they say.

All I want is a giant parade every year for guys who like to fuck women. If they get their parade, I think we should have our own for the straight guys. Just a giant festival with tons of beer, floats, pussy, music, fraternities, bands, you name it!!! It would only be fair to allow us that
 
Shit, I'm as straight as an arrow and I appreciate the beauty that the greats like Arnold and Zane possessed in their physiques... Has everyone become so insecure with their sexuality that they can't see beauty in their own gender? Shit, fucking Brad Pitt is beautiful as fuck and I'm jealous of his facial aesthetics, that doesn't make me gay if I don't have any desire to sleep with him. We can appreciate beauty in all things, whether it be nature, women or even other men. People need to give up their insecure bullshit, especially if it's ruining the sport I love.
 
All I want is a giant parade every year for guys who like to fuck women. If they get their parade, I think we should have our own for the straight guys. Just a giant festival with tons of beer, floats, pussy, music, fraternities, bands, you name it!!! It would only be fair to allow us that

The only quality of pussy you'd get at such a parade would be on par with that alexgt's hairy bunghole. Not something particularly enticing.
 
I think that there was a time when most of the bb world did think this way and it still may be that way but is kind of regressing. As much as Zyzz was an idiot when it came to drugs, partying, and his treatment of women, his whole mirin and aesthetics over everything brought a lot of kids into thinking it's ok to admire another mans body (zyzz definitely isn't a sole contributor but im just using him as an example. Unfortunately, a lot of them also say no homo after everything so they only think it's ok as long as the designate that they are not homo. So it's a step in the right direction at least, young men just need to be taught to be comfortable with their own sexuality and people need to stop being such dicks to gays. People are such assholes to homosexuals that we have straight men so worried about being seen as homosexuals they have to declare they are not after half the shit they say.

Old men need to be taught the same thing. I got done training legs a few months ago and as usual went into the locker room to grab my shit. Minding my own business I pulled down my shorts and checked out my quad pump in the personal mirror only to have some old fuck tell me that it's weird of me to do so and it makes him feel uncomfortable... Go fuck yourself, next time I see you camping on the leg extension machine with the 10lb weight selected, I'm going to step in front of you, pull down my damn pants and pose like you're not right in front of me! Bastard...
 
I respect what you are saying, but some guys for one reason or another decide it's not something they support any longer.

He probably means it, and feels some responsibility for what he considers has been harmful in general. I'm just guessing.
 
Old men need to be taught the same thing. I got done training legs a few months ago and as usual went into the locker room to grab my shit. Minding my own business I pulled down my shorts and checked out my quad pump in the personal mirror only to have some old fuck tell me that it's weird of me to do so and it makes him feel uncomfortable... Go fuck yourself, next time I see you camping on the leg extension machine with the 10lb weight selected, I'm going to step in front of you, pull down my damn pants and pose like you're not right in front of me! Bastard...
Is that the same old man that walks around with his dong hanging out and tried to strike up a conversation about the liberal agenda?

I have no problem watching pros of the past and now and saying they are a beautiful specimen of the human species. I don't think that's gay.. I don't say no homo. I don't necessarily think it's from the looks alone but the work and dedication they put in to look that way. That is what makes you a man. Hard work dedicated to your family and loved ones. It's a baser instinct to hold the most alpha high above the betas!
 
Seriously if people are that insecure that is some sad shit. Sadly I do believe it some what, sadly I see a lot of people shitting on physique and aesthetics builds as if it is a bad thing to look that way.

As it stands right now bodybuilding is for mass monsters and physique is some sad attempt for those wish the old school bodybuilding look to come back.

Sadly no middle ground seems to exist.

Really the sport itself is a damn shame these days.
 
Possibly. Could be due to the fact that homosexuality is usually associated with higher estrogen levels. Since the new outbreak of low t, which is is becoming more prevalent, more men desire to look and feel like a man. Which male wants to be confined to a life of being a bitch? None. Even if they are withheld from high estro, low t, anxiety, or depression, they still all want to be masculine.
 
@Tmisatix you are talking out of your ass and not in a charming way. Homosexuality is not associated with higher estrogen.... or being a bitch or being hypogonadal. You don't have to wear a gay pride T-shirt here but don't join meso just to bitch about gay people and a misunderstanding of hormones. Testosterone itself is actually correlated with estrogen and neither have anything to do with straightness
 
Possibly. Could be due to the fact that homosexuality is usually associated with higher estrogen levels. Since the new outbreak of low t, which is is becoming more prevalent, more men desire to look and feel like a man. Which male wants to be confined to a life of being a bitch? None. Even if they are withheld from high estro, low t, anxiety, or depression, they still all want to be masculine.

Thank you for posting the biggest crock of shit I've seen on the internet today :)
 
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