on gymgoing
Posted: 2009-03-18 17:05
From a Darwinian point of view, strong men are role models of all men, as they are physically fitter for the cruel jungle world. They have greater chances to survive hardship, and are more likely to be successful at passing on their genes. This is largely true even in today, when the society is no longer dominated by pure physical power.
I shall exclude well-educated white-collar grownups from this picture. They are often too polite to detest their peers' beer belly, or simply have grown into a mental state where they cease to notice their own. They have established a life, their biological task is done, so who cares what comes next? It is in the young people's world (where most parts are still uncertain) that the raw nature shines from time to time. Brainy boys with weak limbs are forever prone to mockery; and it is always the basketball jocks, not the math nerds that win the dance with the prom queens. Being smart is good. But biceps are essential as well.<more>
So there comes the gym. Men who lost in the genetic lottery now have a way to catch up. It is interesting how gyms advertise themselves today-- trainers with unbelievable physique are trying to convince us that through rigorous training we can be like them-- a promise that fails 99% of the time. Through many hours of monotonous routines and repeated defeats, I gradually come to this conclusion-- the purpose weightlifting has shifted, big time. It used to be purely functional-- to improve health and enhance strength. Physical beauty, which used to be merely a testimony of perfect health condition, now takes the center stage.
That's why people alter their dietary structure and drink protein shake instead of milk and weigh themselves thrice a day. Some of these changes have scientific grounds, most don't. In a culture that values masculinity somehow by the size of muscles, gym becomes the boot camp where men are at imaginary war with themselves. There is a price to pay-- membership, apparels, nutrition-- and possible internal affliction. Those who have a well proportioned torso with clearly defined muscles easily win far more reverence in the gym, while their flaunting manners constantly inflict jealousy and self-abasement in our insecure souls. There exist an undeniable hierarchy in the once innocent health-boosting Eden-- and wherever there is a hierarchy, men try to climb onto the top.
I‘m a gym rat myself and I have to admit that there's something addictive about weightlifting. One observation is that this addiction is similar to runner's high, only far more psychological than biological. When the change is visible both in the mirror and from the way people talk to you, you taste the sweetness. And once you taste the sweetness you don't want to stop-- the eternal quest for a bigger arm is nothing unlike a kinky fetish. Another observation is that this aesthetics is far from being universal. If I were born 900 years earlier I would probably have been sent off to (real) wars considering my current shape-- charming gentlemen always stayed indoors and wrote poems.
I shall exclude well-educated white-collar grownups from this picture. They are often too polite to detest their peers' beer belly, or simply have grown into a mental state where they cease to notice their own. They have established a life, their biological task is done, so who cares what comes next? It is in the young people's world (where most parts are still uncertain) that the raw nature shines from time to time. Brainy boys with weak limbs are forever prone to mockery; and it is always the basketball jocks, not the math nerds that win the dance with the prom queens. Being smart is good. But biceps are essential as well.<more>
So there comes the gym. Men who lost in the genetic lottery now have a way to catch up. It is interesting how gyms advertise themselves today-- trainers with unbelievable physique are trying to convince us that through rigorous training we can be like them-- a promise that fails 99% of the time. Through many hours of monotonous routines and repeated defeats, I gradually come to this conclusion-- the purpose weightlifting has shifted, big time. It used to be purely functional-- to improve health and enhance strength. Physical beauty, which used to be merely a testimony of perfect health condition, now takes the center stage.
That's why people alter their dietary structure and drink protein shake instead of milk and weigh themselves thrice a day. Some of these changes have scientific grounds, most don't. In a culture that values masculinity somehow by the size of muscles, gym becomes the boot camp where men are at imaginary war with themselves. There is a price to pay-- membership, apparels, nutrition-- and possible internal affliction. Those who have a well proportioned torso with clearly defined muscles easily win far more reverence in the gym, while their flaunting manners constantly inflict jealousy and self-abasement in our insecure souls. There exist an undeniable hierarchy in the once innocent health-boosting Eden-- and wherever there is a hierarchy, men try to climb onto the top.
I‘m a gym rat myself and I have to admit that there's something addictive about weightlifting. One observation is that this addiction is similar to runner's high, only far more psychological than biological. When the change is visible both in the mirror and from the way people talk to you, you taste the sweetness. And once you taste the sweetness you don't want to stop-- the eternal quest for a bigger arm is nothing unlike a kinky fetish. Another observation is that this aesthetics is far from being universal. If I were born 900 years earlier I would probably have been sent off to (real) wars considering my current shape-- charming gentlemen always stayed indoors and wrote poems.
继续充耳不闻，哼唧