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The Adonis Complex
by Mike Chessler

Perfect men-men with thick hair, flawless skin, bulging muscles, and six-pack abs-are taking over the world. They're everywhere: in the movies, on TV, on the covers of magazines. Depending on where you live, you might even see one in the flesh once in a while. It's enough to make a regular Joe feel like a regular schmoe.

And that is exactly what's happening, according to Harrison Pope, Jr., MD or PhD co-author of The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession (The Free Press, 2000.) and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, MA.

"Men are getting a dose of the same medicine that women have been taking for years. They are seeing impossible images of male perfection in photographs and magazines, and being told that this is what they have to look like," according to Pope. The result, he says, is that men are feeling more inadequate than ever.

A Disorder of Our Own

We know that looking at those unhealthily skinny, airbrushed-within-an-inch-of their-lives models in fashion magazines have given rise to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia in women. Now men have something they can call their own: the Adonis Complex. Pope and his colleagues coined the term "Adonis Complex" to include a number of different male body image obsessions. In Greek mythology, Adonis was a half-human/half-god who represented the ideal of male beauty (he was so fine that the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone got in a cat fight over him.)

A number of factors have contributed to the rise of the Adonis Complex, but chief among them is the advent of steroids. "Steroids have given us a distorted, chemically-induced idea of what men should look like," he says. In spite of the serious health risks posed by steroids and the fact they are illegal and banned by all major sporting leagues, their use is widespread.

Chicks Don't Dig It

Ironically, many-perhaps even most-of these intimidating images of male perfection aren't even real, Pope says, but "drug-induced." And it's not just those cartoonishly huge wrestlers who are on steroids, he says. Most of those guys on the covers of health and fitness magazines are using steroids as well.

"There are limits to muscularity and leanness," says Pope, who believes that an alarmingly high number of male fitness models are getting an illegal "juice boost."

Studies by Pope and others have shown that while men think women prefer very muscular guys, in reality most women find big muscles unattractive almost to the point of being repulsive. In fact, most women preferred to cuddle up to a more average physique.

Another Thing to Worry About

The most extreme version of the Adonis Complex is Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Men with BDD are obsessive about their appearance, often fixating on one aspect of it. Hair tops the list of body obsessions. Other big issues include muscularity, chest size, penis size, and body fat. Men with BDD may constantly check themselves in the mirror, work out compulsively, or avoid situations that require them to take their shirts off in public. One man with BDD, interviewed in The Adonis Complex, described spending over an hour every morning trying to style his hair just right.

Most men who have BDD know it, but feel powerless to do anything about it. They are usually expert at hiding it from the people closest to them. Breaking the cycle involves therapy (Pope recommends cognitive behavioral therapy, which is specifically geared towards changing specific behaviors). Anti-depressants may also be prescribed.

Get Over It

Of course, BDD is an extreme example of men being tormented by unrealistic body image. Many more men, however, suffer from milder versions of the Adonis Complex. If you or a guy you care about is driven to unhealthy behaviors in the pursuit of a buff bod, consider the following suggestions.

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- If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. -

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Another fine board: Anabolic Fitness

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Studies by Pope and others have shown that while men think women prefer very muscular guys, in reality most women find big muscles unattractive almost to the point of being repulsive. In fact, most women preferred to cuddle up to a more average physique.

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Ohhh Reeeeaallllyyy !!!!

oh wait is that a hair out of place......

It has to be the most contemptuous piece of propaganda I have read in a while.

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Eating pizza, hamburgers and drinking beer is easy. It doesn't take any special motivation to sit in front of the TV all night. Nobody will notice or pay attention to an overweight person that walks by them. Now take a big muscular guy that walks by and people take notice. Most are awestruck or envious when they see veins running down arms that look like garden hoses underneath the skin.

Am I obsessive about training? Fuck yea. But what ir really comes down to is that bodybuilders want to achieve exceptional physical development is a world that overall accepts mediocity. If I wanted to be the best businessman, they would say I was ambitious; if I wanted to be the best diver in the world, they would say i was driven; but bodybuilding is viewed only as a narcassistc thing.

I like the fact that I am solid, strong and look good. One of my co-workers rags on me (good naturedly)- but when he needed some advise on dropping some blubber; then he respectfully (almost sheepishly) asked me about it. And, in the end, he had zero will power and went back to eating shit and adding more fat. So in the end, he was the one who lost out not me. Ultimately, it was not that important to him. Fine, let him get fat in front of his playstation 2.

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Originally posted by Frackal:
What a fucking jackass.

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This was my thought too.

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SIZE MATTERS MOST

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Originally posted by Hugh Gellatts:
The funny thing is that I've been accused of having "Adonis Complex" by people who excercise more than me but don't get the results.

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Most of my life I was the skinny guy. Now, i'm one of the big boys. If they want to call it a disorder, then fine with me. I'd rather be a big mofo with a disorder than a skinny mofo with a disorder.

And whats that total BS about most women not liking men with big muscles??? Give me a F-ING break!

Sounds like more anti-gear propaganda to me!

Whats the bet whoever wrote this weighs 150lbs and is 5'8" tall?

My girlfriend doesn't mind at all, she actually promotes it

Her friend however- a girl who argues that "there is a god because one day we were smoking pot in my car and a cop drove passed us and we started praying to god to make him leave us alone and he left us alone, so therefore fuck Darwin and his theory" who also WANTS breast implants who also DOES ecstacy, smokes and smokes pot- doesnt go to college and works as a stock girl at a kids clothing store- thinks they're wrong.

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Studies by Pope and others have shown that while men think women prefer very muscular guys, in reality most women find big muscles unattractive almost to the point of being repulsive. In fact, most women preferred to cuddle up to a more average physique.

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MY OWN STUDIES HAVE YIELDED VERY DIFFERENT RESULTS.