I believe I was about the age of 12 when I stumbled across one of my dad’s fitness magazines. The magazine was a copy of Men’s Health, mainly focusing on exercising, but to a hyperbolic extreme. The cover of the magazine was littered with phrases synonymous to “get muscles that make you a man” or “become a man with this workout.” Due to my age at the time, of course I thought nothing of it. I just wanted to loose the several extra pounds that I had at the time in a quick manner and to look like the guys in this magazine: the men’s men. The commerce that was prevalent in this magazine was your typical proteins, amino acid supplements, vitamins, creatine, workout routines and common “one of a kind, innovative, can’t do wrong” workout machines. Now, I realize that this magazine is geared towards men due to it being called “Men’s Health“, but the magazine displayed certain characteristics that qualified certain men as adequate men. There were no lean cut men in this magazine, only men with large sums of muscle mass; additionally, there were numerous times the magazine labeled out of shape men as weak and men who didn’t work out were often labeled as uncommitted or lazy. Those who did the opposite were considered masculine and real men. Although I do believe in a consistent workout routine to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I don’t believe it’s fair to berate those that don’t exercise. This magazine belittled those who didn’t exercise, to the point of discrediting their manhood. Although cruel and unethical, it does seem rational in an advertising sense. What other way is better to convince your consumers to buy your products than to say your not masculine if you don’t have these. This reflection of my past reading of Men’s Health certainly has changed my view on the magazine and makes me wonder if I’ll ever read another issue again.
