What Makes A Man?: An Alpha male’s fight for masculinity against the media’s muscular ideals

Previous studies have focused heavily on media effects on women however growing trends in male ideals are finding that men are no longer static observers. The media constructs the ideal male body as lean, strong and muscular and men exposed to these idealized images may experience body dissatisfaction. Therefore, this project explores the effects of media ideals on men and the possible relationship between the media depictions of the muscular ideals and masculinity. Current research analysis shows that exposure to media ideals not only causes body dissatisfaction among men; trying to achieve the perfect body may result in unhealthy behaviors. For a feature story, in-depth interviews were conducted with six men and one woman ages 23 to 41. Results indicate the media’s portrayal of men as being big and strong is generally believed to be the norm and that traditional male gender roles do, in fact, affect the way young men view themselves