Where Do They Get Their Body Image Ideas?

The pictures included are disgusting. Body building is a competition that is downright unnatural. Not to mention all the steroids that are used within body building rings, but the body image that these people portray is not very natural either. The above pictures show both a man and a woman body builder. There are odd similarities. I find myself thinking of the female body builder, “Gross, she looks like a man!”. In the culture that we live in, women are thought of as slim, well toned bodies, not overly muscular ones. The over muscular bodies are considered a male characteristic. However body building women decide that they want to look like this too. why would they think this way? We looked at the perception of the female body in class. None of the images or ideas that were looked at fit the idea of body building. So is body building its own subculture? It can be argued that yes, it is. The desire to look as most body builders do is the exact definition of a pursuit without a terminus. When do body builders ever say that they are strong enough or that their muscles are big enough? Never. The need for constant self improvement pushed the body builders to work harder, but also never stops. Body builders think of themselves as in pursuit of the perfect body. I’m not quite sure where this idea of perfection comes from. The media defiantly doesn’t portray body building as the perfect body. What is it in body builders that make them want to look as they do?