While surfing through the internet and researching how masculinity is portrayed in advertisements, I came across a very interesting article by the Huffington Post titled "The 12 Diet And Exercise Secrets Male Models Swear By." Below are the list of so-called 12 "secrets."
1. Make Fitness A Priority 2. Maintain, Maintain, Maintain 3. Get Tough 4. You Don't Need Fancy Equipment 5. Don't Cheat 6. Train For Strength 7. Don't Let Dinner Ruin Your Workout 8. Be Prepared 9. Don't Eat Right Before Bed 10. Forget Fad Diets 11. Live a Little 12. Don't Do It Alone |
When I first came across the list of 12, I thought it was another boring article that talks about eating right and exercising right. And yes, the article does talk about eating right and exercising right, but the extent to which male models take it came across to me as a surprise. Bryce Thompson, one of the models that were interviewed, commented that making fitness a priority can mean "working out seven days a week and doing 600 sit ups and 1,000 push ups every day in addition to cardio." When I think of female models, one things that comes to my mind is their physique. The next question that comes up is: how do they maintain their bodies? Female models are famous for working out rigorously and sticking to ridiculously healthy, small portioned diets. Honestly speaking, I expected men to be quite different, but the reality was not. Male models are as discipline and as hard-working as female models to stay in shape.
Chad White, one of the models interviewed, said that he does not recommend normal people to exactly follow the models' lifestyles, and I can't agree more. Models are paid to make clothes look good, grace the cover of magazines and even sell skivvies, so needless to say. Models and models and advertisements are advertisements. Even models have on-and-off seasons and they live a less rigorous lifestyle during the off seasons. It is important for consumers of mass media to understand that advertisements are different from reality. It is absolutely unnecessarily for men to strive up to the masculinity that the media portrays. It is good to keep in shape and live a healthy lifestyle, but don't take it too far as to kill yourself while doing so.
Chad White, one of the models interviewed, said that he does not recommend normal people to exactly follow the models' lifestyles, and I can't agree more. Models are paid to make clothes look good, grace the cover of magazines and even sell skivvies, so needless to say. Models and models and advertisements are advertisements. Even models have on-and-off seasons and they live a less rigorous lifestyle during the off seasons. It is important for consumers of mass media to understand that advertisements are different from reality. It is absolutely unnecessarily for men to strive up to the masculinity that the media portrays. It is good to keep in shape and live a healthy lifestyle, but don't take it too far as to kill yourself while doing so.