Male Body Beauty - Essay Example

English Male Body Beauty Beauty is a term that has generated a lot of attention from many scholars and the complexity of the terms has been evaluated from various perspectives. Susan Bordo is among the scholars who have focused on the real definition of this term and its implication in the line of gender. In her essay, Beauty Rediscovers the Human Body, she is keen to notice the physical manifestation of the man’s body and the public attention it can gather. In her reaction, she feels that the manly appeal is an element that has been ignored and that all attention has been drawn to the beauty of a woman. In reality, many advertisements in the have concentrated on the use of female icons to give the public a positive feel of the product. In the modern advertisements where male icons have been featured in advertisement the idea of beauty seems to be overturned and questions have been raised whether in reality men or women exonerate real beauty. By reflecting on her personal experiences, Bordo points out that men show more beauty and are a lot more attractive than the society has ever imagined. It is the good body of men that make them more attractive. First, Bordo (168) reflects on the use of men in advertisements as what she calls ‘men on display’ to explain the appeal of men to the public. She reflects on her first sight of the Calvin Klein advertisement that featured a man in short in the New York Times magazine, a sight that sent her into erotic consciousness. She noticed the bodily appeal that comes with men and especially the muscled legs that were noticeable in the advertisement. Later when she carried the advertisement to class, the lady colleagues seem to have responded much similar to her. The ladies too were keen to note the good features of the advertisement, which they find most appealing to them. The point she puts across is that there is most ladies are pleased by toned bodies and this is the feature that they find more attractive in men. This seems to be the inversion of the concept of beauty and the traditional ideology that women were more conspicuous that men, a notion that had influenced the media marketing. From this observation, it seems that the man's physique has a great appeal to women and even the least exposure of their body is adequate enough to shed a shiver in the bodies of many ladies. Next, Bordo describes her youth experience while she loved watching basketball game (169-170). It is during this time that she started to notice the natural beauty in men’s leg that was attractive and appealing. She says that the sight of basketball players’ legs could send a shiver to any ladies heart, a situation that she finds rather exception. In the traditional context, it was the ladies legs that could catch the eyes of many, while such an eye on the men’s leg would attract more criticism than approval. The point seems to bring about is that men’s leg just like women’s body can be regarded as sexy, in fact enough to attract a woman. The fact that she finds her reaction to men’s body as a sexual abnormality brings the notion that this kind of appeal has not been appreciated yet in the society. Altogether, this is a sign of shortage of the definition of beauty of a man and this is an area that needs more coverage. In a nutshell, there is need to change the mentality that a body appeal is something that only associates with women. There seems to be a great connection between gayism and the element of beauty in men, which was traditionally concealed by the development of women as the images of attractive sexuality. The development of a gay society has overturned the image of women in the society and very new concept of men as sexual objects. Bordo (176) reflects on the many images of semi-naked men that have formed part of the gay photo gallery. The advert of Calvin Klein, who was a bisexual, seems to be part of the change that has now come to overturn the traditional concept of beauty to usher a new era of unbiased beauty. When she says “thanks Calvin Klein” she seems to be expressing her admiration of the entry of the new image of human being in a formerly culture-oriented society. From this perspective, the existence of a culture that appreciates gayism and the development of advertisement with images of strong men in magazines is a discovery of the beauty of men. The question of whether muscle men or slim men are beautiful is a complex issue that Bordo convincingly alludes to. In her coverage of Rocks and Leaners, she implores on the idea of a real and non-real man in the society (Bordo 182). She keenly observes how the muscular and the lean men are displayed in various advertisements in a rather critical dimension. Men who are muscled and big, what she calls ‘rock’ seem to be more bold, outstanding and unfearful in their advertisements, a portrayal of confidence in the gender roles. On the other hand, slim, what she calls ‘leaners’, are depicted as more passive and cowardly in their advertisements. The idea of Bordo is that huge and muscled men are manlier while lean men are female-like, which is a distinction of the beauty of men. She feels that the rock man is confident and more composed while the lean man is deficient of the natural bodily beauty a man should have. The conclusion that can be made from here is that the built a built body is the attractive aspect of a man’s beauty. Another difference between women is their instincts of fashion and their controversial believe in the beauty. While women are more conscious on what to put, men will wear just anything and still regard themselves as attractive. Bordo share her experience with a roommate who had to spend a good part time her time to ensure that her make was fine. On the contrary she reflects on a movie that shows a man who quickly grasps his khaki clad and goes out to pick a news magazine. The idea of this scholar is that there is an imperative difference between the beauty of a woman and that of a man (188-189). Her idea is that a man’s image is more physical and not dependent on their clothes that he puts on in the social spheres. Bordo (189) says that a man has the attitude that “I am damn well gonna wear what I want…’ which is a characteristic feature of the ideally attractive man. She seems to be rather critical of idea of Calvin Klein to advertise jeans, and shirts that will show a man's physique more prominently as a way of showing beauty. From the idea of this scholar, it seems that the beauty of a man is not dependent on their dressing code but on the prominence of their body. The historical development of the sense of beauty and the dressing culture is the consequence of the modern notion of beauty. Traditionally, the female dressing code was much more similar to that of men as robes, hides and skins were the dominant clothing fashions available. Eventually, modernization came along with changes that considerably created a drift in the dressing mode. Women clothes were more slim-fitted to their body while little attention was given to the male clothes. This portrays the natural existence male attractiveness as opposed to the rather fashion-oriented female beauty that needs to be cultivated to make it even better. Bordo (200-201) perceives the modern dressing consciousness of men as another historical convergence of the female and male dressing patterns. This seems to be the situation today when men and women seem to be going for attires that show their natural physique and men considerably getting into fashion styles in the contemporary society. To drive her point home, Bordo refers to how men act and how women appear in the advertisements and the reaction they get in public. It appears that women are there to present a sensual appeal to attract more public observers while men are there to act manly, a value that is indicated by their body and not their sexual appeal. In this regard, it is the kind of a body that a man has that makes them attractive and not their fashion appeal. In conclusion, Bordo successfully drive her point home that the natural attractiveness of men is depicted in their body and natural physique. As she reflects on the men display in various advertisements and the kind of reaction that these adverts generate from ladies, it is clear that women are keen to observe the bodily elements of a semi-naked man that are attractive. The development of gay culture in the society has alluded to the man’s bodily appeal and has brought in the crowds more images of men to think about. The historical development of a gender oriented clothes and the consequential awareness of makeup and fashion in women depicts the difference in women’s beauty and the beauty of men. Despite wearing less fashionistic clothes, real men will still feel attractive and more appealing. The general public regards the strong and muscled men as more masculine while slim men as feminine, which is a portrayal the close association of men with their body appearance. From the point of a critical evaluator, the attractiveness of men seems to be manifested by their good bodies. Works Cited Bartholomae, David, and Anthony Petrosky, eds. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print. Bordo, Susan. Beauty (Re) discovers the Male Body. Bartholomae and Petrosky, 189-233. Read More