Open Discussion:
Ryan Lochte isn’t famous only for his Olympic medals and his diamond-studded mouth bling.
He’s also famous for enchanting the women of the world. Rob Delaney summed it up in a Tweet on Wednesday:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/robdelaney/status/230843254290124801″]
For many men, watching events like swimming and diving in the Olympics is an experience in envy and body shame akin to a woman watching the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. These guys are the pinnacle of prototypical male physical perfection.
As a man, how does watching these guys affect you? Are you inspired by their athleticism and skill or do you feel inferior to these real-life Adonises? Or is it something else entirely?
It makes me feel great! I may not work out all that much, but hey when you watch Lou…oh wait, I thought we talking about Louis C.K…the olympians? The US men’s swimming team? Oh yea, totally, I feel out shape. It’s similar in nature to the wave of inadequacy I feel after I’ve watched Daniel Craig in the most recent incarnations of the Bond movies. I definitely feel the overwhelming urge to go work out and get into shape after watching the olympics. I’ve even looked into the local water polo club that meets every second Friday. I think I’m… Read more »
Nope. I worked very hard to make my body look the way it does, and I’m even a little bit vain about it. I’m proud of the way it performs, and the way it looks. Olympic athletes can all do at least one thing way better than I can, and that’s all right. I figured out long ago that I can only be engaged in a competition with one body.
These guys are heroes: they had whatever goals they had, and they put in countless hours working towards those goals. The hard work then paid off.
Men are rarely judged solely on their looks: this is the basis of what NSWATM terms the “success myth.”
When I see these guys I see that hard work does pay off. It’s refreshing and triumphant. I’ll likely never look like them, but I don’t have to, my goals are different.
Well, I’m a fairly fit guy – a former rugby player and I still swim, cycle and lift weights. Nonetheless, when I watch the Olympics I feel like I’m looking at a two-week parade of genetic (and rather obsessive) freaks. I feel no kinship or connection with them at all. Under those circumstances, their appearance just doesn’t resonate with me. I did find the last paragraph interesting though: “For many men, watching events like swimming and diving in the Olympics is an experience in envy and body shame akin to a woman watching the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. These guys… Read more »
For me, it’s not an equal comparison to say that women feel less attractive next to female Olympians because that ultra-fit body isn’t necessarily the prototypically desirable female body. The volleyball players have awesome butts, the runners and gymnasts have great abs, but Gabby Watts or Missy Franklin’s bodies are not necessarily considered sexy. Gabby is pubescent (she’s very young, and she’s an olympic gymnast, I’d venture to guess she may literally be pre-pubescent in some ways) and Missy has the highly musculature frame of the swimmer that she is. You just can’t say this gold-medal winning body is the… Read more »
Not really. I’m 30, not 19, and I do exercise – a normal amount, about 4 hours a week, something normal people can.
And no, 20 hours of exercise, a full-time job, and a social life isn’t really something ‘mortals’ can do. Not unless exercise is your only hobby, or you’re willing to cut back on the hours you sleep – though keep in mind, the downside to your health for doing that by far outweighs the benefits of exercise.
Yes, it’s possible for mere mortals to spend 20 hours a week training on their bods…and they, too, could look like Olympians (Isn’t that what P90X and Insanity and Brazil Butt Lift DVD’s are all about?) ….If that’s the bod you really want, you can go outside and hop on your bike or car to the gym and go get it! Or you could stay home and hang out and eat snacks on your couch…it’s your choice! Bodies like that don’t happen by accident!
Doesn’t bother me- I’m a bank walker….
And I laughed aloud at Drew Carey’s observation- and let me apologize right now, up front….
Mea Culpa, mea maxima culpa……
in any case his girlfriend was ogling a calendar and he tells her something to the effect of…..
Hate to tell you this but; guys can only get those abs by having sex with another man….
I’m sorry, how about we take this as an indictment of fat hetero middle aged guys like me- well our bodies, I’m not going to take the lead as a spokesman….
Personally, I could care less. Their bodies are a product of the most arduous training routines the human body can withstand.
I feel comfortable in my body, and while I acknowledge their bodies are more prototypically more attractive, I also know that physical beauty isn’t something that should be used as a measure of a person’s worth. (In the Olympians case, I think their beauty can be, but only as a byproduct of their determination to be the best at what they do)
Mostly some sort of frustrated, awestruck envy along with old and tired and lazy. Inadequate. Are you inspired by their athleticism and skill or do you feel inferior to these real-life Adonises? Inferior. For many men, watching events like swimming and diving in the Olympics is an experience in envy and body shame akin to a woman watching the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. And just as some of us do with our own envy and body shame we write off the envy and body shame women feel about fashion models. Basically a matter of “Well if they are concerned about… Read more »
“As a man, how does watching these guys affect you? Are you inspired by their athleticism and skill or do you feel inferior to these real-life Adonises? Or is it something else entirely?” Mostly some sort of frustrated, awestruck envy along with old and tired and lazy. Whatever the feeling is called when you are insecure and doing your best not to show it. Whatever the feeling is called when you don’t want to be self-pitying but want to be realistic about your talents. Whatever the feeling is called when you want to be gracious and respectful of the accomplishments… Read more »