• Gaywallet (they/it)M
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    2 years ago

    I don’t really have time to watch this, but looking at the timestamps I’ll bet I’m also of like mind of the person laying this out. I’ve found myself online in more than one occasion trying to help people understand just how common steroid use is amongst male models, sports players, and other body-focused professions. The ubiquity of it is honestly startling, and it irks me, a lot, that people will continually defend and sweep it under the rug when they have no experience with the scene or haven’t spent any time learning about steroids, body-building, etc.

    The simplest and perhaps best way to get a simple handle on how pervasive it is, is to look at pictures of professional bodybuilders and strongmen from before steroids existed (roughly pre 1940). While these sports and professions were certainly not as present as they are today and many did not have as good nutrition science, training regimens, and other outcomes of success, the absolute top athletes of the world looked so wildly different than they do today and it can help ground you in the idea of what someone with the right genetics and devoting themselves to bodybuilding might look like. Immersing yourself in bodybuilding culture and surrounding yourself with people on this specific journey and watching their transformation and how long it takes even when someone is devoted is also a very good way to ground yourself in what’s a reasonable amount of progress within a defined period of time. For some actors who go from ‘normal’ to ‘ripped’ in a year or two, it’s quite clear that their progress was enhanced.

    To be clear, I do not think less of them for using science to enhance their bodies. In fact, I encourage it. We often treat steroids as a boogeyman because there’s a notably dark past when it comes to our use of these substances mismatched with our understanding of science. However, today, you can use steroids safely and comfortably to reach your desired muscular state quite quickly… but the lack of acknowledgement that this is what is happening is incredibly toxic to men. The idolization of these people, without addressing what science enhanced and helped to create it, sets expectations in men that they should look a particular way and that if they don’t they aren’t working hard enough or aren’t desirable to others. This is pervasive and toxic and likely behind the growing incidence of eating and body disorders among men.