January 21, 2011

"The iconography of the hamburger is crucial to fitness magazines..."

"... with grotesque double-patty pile-ups and surreal towers of lettuce leaves variously signing repulsion and signifying obsession. In this month's Shape, a male model is jamming one sloppy sandwich into himself whole, without chewing or even swallowing, for the sake of promoting a story titled 'Sex, Beer, and Burgers: Why Guys Are Healthier Than You Think.' This is one of those numbers about embracing male desires: Eat a bigger lunch. Drink bottled beer as a matter of portion control. Masturbate more frequently in order to release "feel-good hormones including endorphins and oxytocin," they quote an Ivy League gynecologist, the science classing up the matter."

A paragraph in an article about various fitness magazines forced me to copy it and paste it here.

20 comments:

Hoosier Daddy said...

I used to have a Men's Health subscription for a couple of years and then finally cancelled it since all it turned into was the male version of Cosmopolitan.

The articles on sex were laughable on one end and completely contradictory from one issue to the next. Exercise routines were a joke and they constantly wrote puff pieces on these one hit wonder actors who claim they have that chiseled 5% bodyfat body from running on the beach and doing yoga. Crap I tell you.

Pastafarian said...

So we see a second use for an Ivy League education: somefeller pointed out earlier in the week that the Ivy League produces people expert in urination technique. And now we see that they also produce people capable of dispensing such valuable advice as "flog your bishop."

I detect a pattern.

Amexpat said...

I read the article, nothing there about the tapeworm diet.

Sigivald said...

I think that might say more about the Salon article's author than about the fitness magazines.

chickelit said...

The iconography of the hamburger is crucial to fitness magazines...

I wish they'd rely more on the iconography of the fish taco. It's a matter of taste I suppose.

Roger J. said...

DAMN--now at the age of 70 I find out I was doing everything right!
Life isnt fair.

Unknown said...

Somehow, the fitness mags always strike me as Cosmo variants.

Ann Althouse said...

A paragraph in an article about various fitness magazines forced me to copy it and paste it here.

Hmmm...

David said...

These ladies should just marry someone like Meade, if indeed there is anyone like him.

coketown said...

Surreal towers of lettuce?

The Crack Emcee said...

Hoosier Daddy,

Exercise routines were a joke and they constantly wrote puff pieces on these one hit wonder actors who claim they have that chiseled 5% bodyfat body from running on the beach and doing yoga. Crap I tell you.

Yea - crap I tell you.

Clyde said...

My own personal theory is that frequent ejaculation is good for men because it keeps the prostate working and doesn't let old semen build up in the plumbing. Gotta keep the pipes clean. I don't want to be one of those old guys leaning against the wall at the urinal.

Phil 314 said...

Is there much of an overlap between readers of Slate and readers of fitness magazines?

David said...

Clyde said...
I don't want to be one of those old guys leaning against the wall at the urinal.

Then take up some very dangerous hobbies and get your will up to date. That might help.

Freeman Hunt said...

Masturbate more frequently in order to release "feel-good hormones including endorphins and oxytocin

The speaker's mind automatically goes to "masturbate?" Why not have more sex?

traditionalguy said...

That may be why many older women cannot find good men. The available pool of men is smaller because of Beer, Hamburgers and Masturbation.

Roger J. said...

Freeman: one word: commitment

Wince said...

Instapundit linked to a blog post, Men have upper hand in sexual economy, named for a CNN article it links.

An excerpt:

It's not a new theory: As women progress in educational and professional opportunities, their odds of finding a committed man appear to go down. Women in their 40s and 50s have long heard this, but new research finds it's true for women just entering adulthood as well...

Researchers found that since women in the 18- to 23-year-old group feel they don't need men for financial dependence, many of them feel they can play around with multiple partners without consequence, and that the early 20s isn't the time to have a serious relationship. But eventually, they do come to want a real, lasting relationship. The problem is that there will still be women who will have sex readily without commitment, and since men know this, fewer of them are willing to go steady...

The wide availability of pornography has also influenced the dynamics of relations between men and women, Regnerus said. A segment of 20-something men are content to have their sexual experiences by themselves, removing them from the pool of available partners. That means high-quality men - likely those who want monogamous, committed relationships - are still eligible for dating, but the overall dating pool has shrunk, meaning some women will be left unsatisfactorily single.

Researchers also found that marrying at or before age 20 constitutes the greatest risk for subsequent divorce, the data show.

The Crack Emcee said...

Freeman,

The speaker's mind automatically goes to "masturbate?" Why not have more sex?

Can't get a girl.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's just subtle patriotism. The hamburger (despite its name) is the great American food after all.

jamboree said...

Shape is just ad space. Think of the poor people that have to come up with enough new crap to fill a magazine every month so those ads can go out.

Every. single. month. year in, year out, - ab exercises, butt exercises, new ways to lose 10 lbs, new recipes, new self-steem, new celebrity beauty tips.

I thought this was kind of cute for filler - as far as it goes.