Susan Bordo: "Beauty (Re)discovers The Male body"

            In her article "It's a Face-Lifted, Tummy-Tucked Jungle Out There," Amy Splinder talks about the obsession over male appearance that has been surging in society for the past couple of years.  She explains that people see appearance as a way to compete against others and succeed in society.   She concentrates on how this has always been the case for females, but in recent years males have been getting into this trend.  As a result of this new trend, males find any possible way to gain a desired, youthful body; preferably easy and effortless methods, such as plastic surgery.  This has lead to the commercializing of effortless methods to improve appearances, which Splinder calls "faux fixes."  These shortcuts that improve appearances has always been something that concentrated on the female population, but with the new male interest on appearance it has been able to expand and has now become a huge industry.  Splinder traces all this back to the competition between young and older males, in which younger males are usually more in demand when it comes to most things, including jobs.  This has forced older males to try to look as young as possible because it is seemed as preferred in society.
                In the end, all this has resulted in the commercializing of the male body.  Since it has become such a big industry it has lead to even more advertising of male appearance. Creating a positive feedback loop in which the more male appearance is sought after, the more it is advertised, and the more it is advertised, the more that it is sought after.

Splinder, Amy. (1996). "It's a Face-Lifted, Tummy-Tucked Jungle Out There," New York Times, June 9.