The Adonis Complex and Real Men
For many years women have suffered under social pressure to live up to a certain image. That image is always the same one, propegated by the media, magazines, television,internet and of course advertising campaigns that are selling a product and associating it with an ideal of what beauty should be.
For women, it’s a slim to anorexic, high-cheeked,boney hipped 20 year old. The image has become so powerful that women feel intimidated if they don’t posses at least one of these “qualities”.
For many years men have got away with it. We didn’t have to live up to a visual image that was shown and flaunted everday on T.V. and in the papers and magazines. Unfortunately, those days have gone and the “Adonis complex” is part of the male psyche – and it’s getting deeper.
Images of ripped and hard bodied men who would pass any Army entrance test just by looks, are served up in the papers and internet and in any media form possible.
And we, the everyday men who aren’t male-models or pro-bodybuilders have to make our excuses as to just why we don’t look like these guys. The advertising tells us that if we don’t look like these men, then we just don’t cut the mustard. We ain’t real men.
Advertising is powerful. Even if you aren’t the sort of man who reads Men’s Magazines, you probably are aware of this image. It’s tough avoiding them, we see them everyday in the bus, on the street advertising products that will make us more like these men – and therefore more attractive to our women.
The truth is that these images are theatrical. They feed our need for stories and fantasies in our daily lives. They are “The Ideal” that our alta-egos strive towards but never can have. The alta ego is healthy and an essential part of the human psyche. It’s that higher self that guides us through life and makes us want to be better. to improve on our short comings.
When it’s being tampered with by a destructive outside influence and we succumb to the influence, our alta ego can become our worst enemy and start making demands that are destructive and unrealistic. The result is often evident in the form of low-self-esteem and depression. We start to believe in the downright undo-able, the unachievable and start to hanker for things that are really of no use to us in any way what-so-ever.
These men on the front pages of male-mags, grinning faces, handsome and apparently bestowed with enough muscle to shift a Volkswagon car with a single bench-press, didn’t get that way because nature said they should be like that.
Yes, they worked out in the gym. They followed a routine and exercised everyday.they exerted self-discipline and gained just a couple of pounds of muscle. So, they had to resort to the use of something that would help them gain a bit more muscle – quickly and with less effort. Supplements.
Most teenagers can build muscle quickly and look great after six weeks of working out. Most men over the age of thirty years have problems making those type of gains. Muscles don’t just continue to grow and grow throughout life, there comes a point when nature says that it’s time to just relax and maintain body weight. That’s good health and that’s the real goal. Maintaining a fit healthy body – and that’s what most partners want.
The reason that we can’t look like an Adonis, is because it isn’t practical. It’s a myth and it should stay a myth or an ancient story that inspires the mind towards greatness in everyday life.
The problem with all of this is that it is a source of anguish and frustration for many men. The men who believe that they won’t get the girl or satisfy their partner unless they posses Hurculean qualities are headed for real trouble.They need to stop and take stock of their goals measured against reality.
To exercise the body and develop the muscles so that they are toned and supple is great goal. Then, it is better to think of the qualities of an Adonis in terms of metaphore. The image is a symbol of power and prowess that makes for a happy successful life. The protector and hunter are associated with this too – does that mean that we need to go out and hunt animals? No, we go to work and get the money and with that we put meat on the table. that’s enough for most partners, depending what their “meat” is.
Remember that we live in a material world and living up to ideals that are in effect Theatrical or Mythological is a dangerous pre-occupation that leads to dissapointment.
Most women admit that they prefer a man to be slim and atrractive, meaning healthy with a good character or personality – that’s the key to attracting and staying attractive to your partner. That’s the key to being a real man
