Do representations of male muscularity differ in men's and women's magazines?

Frederick, David A.; Fessler, Daniel M.T.; Haselton, Martie G.

doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.12.002

Cited by 192Evolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorMedia, Gender, and AdvertisingGender Roles and Identity Studies

Do representations of male muscularity differ in men's and women's magazines?

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Frederick, David A., Fessler, Daniel M.T., Haselton, Martie G.·2005·Body Image

DOI 10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.12.002

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Abstract

Men overestimate the degree of muscularity that is attractive to women, and women overestimate the degree of thinness that is most attractive to men. Consistent with the thesis that sociocultural input influences such body type preferences and beliefs, we postulated that magazines aimed at a male audience would portray a more muscular male body ideal than would magazines aimed at a female audience. Systematic comparison of popular magazines (Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness) revealed that the ideal male body marketed to men is more muscular than the ideal male body marketed to women. We introduce the Physical Trait Overvaluation Hypothesis, which proposes that gender-specific media fuel emphasis on certain body parts in within-gender prestige competitions. The resulting competitive escalation creates a disconnect between the preferences of one gender and the personal aspirations of the other.

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The muscular ideal has long been propagated in Western culture through male models, film stars, computer game avatars, and action figures.
“The muscular ideal has long been propagated in Western culture as shown by the appearance of male models (Frederick et al., 2005; Lanzieri and Cook, 2013), film stars (Pope et al., 2000a,b) computer game avatars (Martins et al., 2011), and action figures (Baghurst et al., 2006).”
From The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness (2022) · cites this paper as Frederick et al., 2005

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“Research employing similar measures designed for men has shown that men desire a level of muscularity that is greater than the level found attractive by women (Frederick & Haselton, 2003; Olivardia et al., 2004), and that men overestimate the level of muscularity women find ideal (Olivardia et al.”
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Authors: Frederick, D. A., Fessler, D. M. T., & Haselton, M. G.
Affiliations: University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author: Frederick, David A.
ORCID: Frederick, David A.
Fessler, Daniel M.T.
Venue: Body Image
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2005-03
Volume: 2
Issue: 1
Pages: 81-86
ISSN: 1740-1445 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.12.002
OpenAlex: W1999032262
Semantic Scholar: cdc5ce99b2c6c9aa0418d53d0d82f30e74c6f650
Cited by: 192
References: 23
Citations by year: 2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 13
FWCI: 14.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
arxiv.org
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Body Image (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Media, Gender, and Advertising
Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
Keywords: body ideals, media influence on body image, physical attractiveness

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Do representations of male muscularity differ in men's and women's magazines?

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