Abstract
The archetypal male body has historically been regarded as strong, muscular and athletic. It has been seen as a body containing latent power and potential capability. It is also a body that has traditionally been recognised as one that can ‘do’ things that are practical and meaningful to everyday existence. Men have traditionally been involved in manual labour such as building, construction and farming. They have also predominantly been involved in the services such as police force, fire brigade and armed military services. Indeed, it has been mainly men who have lost their lives in wars and combats as well as in dangerous occupations. It could be argued that men’s bodies have been regarded as ones that were functional and, in some ways, expendable. As identified previously, the male body often revolved around what it could ‘do’ more so than that what it looked like. However, the consequence of that ‘doing’ body was the development of a physique that was regarded as strong, powerful and ‘in control’.
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Drummond, M. (2020). Male Body Image Across the Lifespan. In: Boys' Bodies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59654-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59654-3_2
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