We’re not spending hours in the gym and following a strictly controlled diet so that we can compete in the Olympics, we’re doing it because our sexual currency and our self-worth depends on it.
While maintaining a toned physique has definite physical health benefits, it seems clear that many gay men are in pursuit of a perfect body not just for the sake of health, but because it has become a gay standard to live up to. What’s the problem with wanting a muscular physique? The desirability of a muscled physique is constantly reinforced to us through online dating apps, advertising, and our everyday interactions with other gay men. Beyond the obvious flex of “look how desirable my body is”, there’s also the explicit acknowledgment that it’s muscled physiques that get our attention, it’s muscled physiques that we find sexually attractive, and it’s muscled physiques that are aspirational. The gym selfie seems to have become obligatory for every gay with a gym membership. The vast majority – and most basic – of these selfies are taken at the gym. You don’t have to look any further than your Insta or TikTok feed to find an endless sea of men taking shirtless selfies – predominantly showcasing chiselled, perfectly-defined bodies.
