Advertisement

firehouse pizza banner

Andy Sullivan: Against The Grain

Magazines that give us unrealistic expectations are everywhere.  The Men’s Health magazines with the muscle head cover boys with the insinuation that “you too can look like this” or “get the girl of your dreams by looking like a (paraphrasing) muscle-head dipstick”.  Obviously they don’t use the “muscle-head dipstick” term. 
I appreciate some of the meal and snack ideas.  In fact, I’ve gotten a smoothie idea or two from Men’s Health.  I also appreciate some of the exercise ideas.  You’re not, however, going to look like a Greek god after using their techniques.  That’s not to say you shouldn’t exercise. 
What I don’t appreciate, however, is the feeling of being talked down to while I’m reading an article.  Something akin to: Want the woman, job, etc. of your dreams, do this, this and this.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve adopted some small changes here and there: I do eat better, I exercise a lot, etc.  The big difference is this: I do these things because I want to, not because some magazine tells me. 
It kind of reminds me of the recent season finale of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.  Dennis designed a ridiculous farce of an exercise system that Mac, Charlie and the rest of their gang follow blindly because “it says so here on the paper”.  When they found out that they were being duped, well they weren’t too happy.  The difference is that we’re not just blindly following a magazine article, hopefully. 
Naturally I took this question to my best friend.  She shares my view that those sorts of magazines are silly. It’s just up to the reader to understand that real people aren’t like that.  And just an FYI, she let me know that she couldn’t think of a single woman interested in guys of the muscle-bound “perfection” variety.  She adds “It stinks but I can tell you no matter how bad it is for guys, it is way worse for females.  The expectations put on women to look a certain way is so much worse and absolutely ridiculous.  She adds that the sad thing is that some guys think that’s the way women really are. 
I do think that even people who were once mesmerized by this phenomenon will eventually grow out of it with age and maturity.  Take magazines such as this for what they are: informative entertainment that’s mostly heavy on the entertainment. 

Tags: 


Bookmark and Share

Advertisements