I got into weightlifting to improve my combat sports, but when I realized I was getting prettier, it took on a bodybuilding element for me. I know a lot of our trans comrades also use body building to help make their bodies signal the correct gender.
That said, I worry about it sometimes. The "ideal" male physique is heavily shaped by media featuring steroid users. While most people think Arnold looks gross, they don't realize that most actors are bodybuilding and on steroids, and think of an intermediate bodybuilder's body as being lean, athletic and attainable. Like, google "toned man" and see what comes up. It's all steroid users at like 10% bodyfat.
It's a body that is technically attainable, but only if you make fitness your main hobby, which is frankly not something I think most people should do. Most people's health would be properly served by eating their veggies and biking to the subway, which is a far cry from the 6+ hrs a week in the gym most bodybuilders do. That's just for able bodied people with high executive function. Add in neurodivergence and disability and the "ideal" body is literally unobtainable.
I want to be pretty, but I also don't want to contribute to inaccessible beauty norms. This is a tension that I'm not sure has a good answer, but I at least want to hear chacha's thoughts on it.
I see bodybuilding in the same way as body modding; a bit like tattoos, piercings, etc. In other words it's not done to set a standard or to appeal to anyone other than themselves and others who are into that scene.
but the bodybuilding scene is so unhealthy, I'm talking about those mass monsters, but even those aesthetic guys are taking a lot of gear. Professional bodybuilding is pretty much first world decadence, these guys have to eat constantly, I watched a video with Jay Cutler once, and he has to eat high protein meats several times a day. You can tell eating for him was a chore.
I think we should be working to achieve a world where everyone can have this level of decadence, and direct it in any way they want. Now problem is doing this while not destroying the planet and while getting rid of a lot of the useless commodities we have.
I mean it in the broad sense, the the people who bulk in winter and cut in spring so they can get a beach bod