Gym Bros Are The Face Of Toxic Masculinity. True or False?
In our conversation, Sufian questioned whether it’s the way “men bottle everything up” that is somehow related to why some men overexert their physical presence.
“There’s a stereotype Asian guys play into,” he said. “I grew up in a traditional Singaporean household where parents don’t express love to anyone. My dad shows strength in character, not by expressing himself. Seeing men bottle everything up was considered normal, and I saw that in my dad.”
In his experience, Sufian has observed how this culture of strong but silent manhood is intertwined with gym bro culture. At the gym, everything is expressed from a physical standpoint, and rarely from within. So if you were raised to be strong and not show emotion, the gym environment would likely make you feel relatively comfortable.
This has a domino effect on a variety of issues. For example, the fact that men tend to be less introspective means they are less likely to point out problematic issues within the fitness community. Or within themselves.
If a woman eats very little, people are very quick to question whether she has an eating disorder. But when was the last time you heard someone question a man for having an eating disorder because he eats eight times a day to grow bigger?
“When you start seeing food as your enemy, or as something you need to be so calculative about, then it can be toxic,” Brent explained.
If someone eats too much or too little to the point they feel sick, or feel like they can’t engage in social activities with their friends, it’s an eating disorder. “Call a spade a spade,” Sufian added.
Yet men don’t realise their relationship with food is toxic, because addressing an eating disorder would probably open a Pandora’s box of insecurities (and other mental health issues) they are not willing to explore.
