Steroids still refuel discussions about body image online: NPR

Ailsa Chang, host:

In recent years we have seen an increase in the examination about the way famous people look – more precisely whether they can attribute weight loss for drugs such as Ozempic or Zepbound. But you know that another class of drugs also drives discussions about body image online and it is a drug that has been around for much longer. We speak of men who want to win with steroid muscle mass. Brittany Luse from NPR is the moderator of the IT is a minute podcast, and every month she gives us an insight into overlooked culture. Hey, Brittany, it’s good to be back with you.

Brittany Luse, Byline: It’s great to be back, Ailsa.

Chang: Ok, as we said, steroids had been there for so long. So why did you want to examine the current conversation for steroids? Has this conversation changed?

Luse: Yes. I mean, you mentioned such Ozempic and drugs. And on social media, you can often see that people analyze whether or not a celebration due to a sudden supposed weight loss.

Chang: Right.

Luse: Well, this also applies to the inverse. There is more and more content that analyze whether a famous man has started to use steroids or not because he suddenly is much muscle.

(Soundbite of the archived recording)

Unknown person: In the last 24 days they look at the change of the body. He is small, then big. And what you will see is that he will grow small and then big again. What this often means is that they go up and down cycles.

Luse: And in addition, young men are fed much more content on how these muscle types can be achieved, and this could affect the self -image of young men. I spoke to Dr. Roberto Olivardia about it and he is a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the Harvard Medical School, and he led pioneering work to a certain kind of negative body image, which he calls muscle dysmorphia. So he described it to me.

Roberto Olivardia: These are the boys who, although they are in good condition, may wear long-sleeved shirts on a 90-degree day …

Luse: Oh.

Olivardia: … because you believe that your arms look too mucker or too daring. And when I speak guys, I mean, I see it in boys in 12, you know, 11, who …

Luse: Wow, like the age of middle school.

Olivardia: Oh yes. Yes. I worked with boys from 13, 14 who did anabolic steroids.

Chang: Wow, that makes me so sad that 12-year-old boys wrestle with it because, as you know, we think a lot about young women when we talk about problems with body image, and I have the feeling that we are all quite aware of this point of the pressure that is exposed to young women. And I have the feeling that we don’t talk as much about how the same pressure is imposed on boys or men. What kind of way have we seen how the pressure affects? And have standards for the ideal male physique have developed over the years?

Luse: I mean, yes, totally. Male body ideals, just like women’s bodies – ideals – they always change. For example, in the 1980s and until the 90s, it was about being jacked up. Think of a WWE wrestler, right?

Chang: Yes.

Luse: Yes. And Dr. Olivardia actually examined how these changing ideals show in a subtle way, as in the action figures for popular films.

Olivardia: We have an action figure of the 1970s from Luke Skywalker and the 1998 action figure and how it is completely different. I mean, the new Luke Skywalker action figure has opened his robe, its very defined chest muscles, smaller waist, defined legs. And now we are talking about an action figure based on the same character that somehow manipulated in order to be much more muscular.

Chang: Wow. I mean, that is surprising, what is the ideal male body of today? What do you think, Brittany?

Luse: Yes, when I Dr. Olivardia asked about it, he basically said that young men are much more insecure today than in the past, both pedagogically and economically. For example, for you, for example, it is no longer a guaranteed position to be the family in the family.

Chang: Right.

Luse: Young men could feel threatened and want to reach a body that threatens them for the world around them.

Olivardia: We have called it as the endangered theory of masculinity, and I think we can see that now. But I have patients who have to struggle with social fear and they feel so desperate because they want people to see me as a threat. I want people to see me dangerous because I feel so inferior internally. You know, I met with a man in mid -20 yesterday, and he said: Yes, if I only build the perfect body, I will be immune to any kind of rejection. And unfortunately I said that is not the case.

Luse: Yes, Dr. Olivardia basically summarized it to me. Ultimately, the body is not a sign of rejection.

Chang: No, that’s not it. Brittany, thank you for shared this with all of us.

Luse: Thank you, Ailsa. It’s always a pleasure.

Chang: That was Brittany Luse. She is the moderator of NPR. It was a minute ago to explore what is going on in culture.

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