German men prefer the burn

“Presentation and aestheticization are the focus of much attention…people define themselves by self-representation.” Gregor, 31, Munich

The body is no longer perceived or needed by men as an instrument of physical labour. Its new purpose is being an instrument of representation. In Germany, a man’s body has become the primary means of expression in an increasingly hedonistic-narcissistic society. Going out and working out are imperatives of modern Germany. Recent economic and social problems have forced men to reassess themselves, an anxious plan perhaps to reassert their masculinity. Men feel it is better to be muscular, worked-out, and are well disposed towards this kind of cultivating of the body to a much larger extent than women.

The attractiveness of the body is nothing less than a social duty. Permanently confronted role models and celebrities on television and in magazines, many men consider their own body as inferior, even if they are slim, as an enemy that has to be shaped by hard measures, for example frequent diets and excessive training. Most German men argue that one must workout, firstly, to stay fit, secondly, to be successful in one’s career, and thirdly, to not prematurely be out of the running with the opposite sex. Interestingly, cosmetic surgery is not yet accepted in Germany. Men still value a traditional workout to get the body they desire.