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The Chronicle of Higher Education
From the issue dated May 26, 2000

HOT TYPE

'The Adonis Complex' Studies Men's Obsession With a 'Male Body Ideal'; Physicist Examines 'the Soul-Battering System' That Envelops Professionals

By D.W. MILLER and JEFF SHARLET

MACHO MEN: From its title, The Adonis Complex might be mistaken for a new thriller by Robert Ludlum or Michael Crichton. It's more like a self-help book with Ivy League credentials.

Harrison G. Pope Jr., one of its three authors, was among the first to sound a public alarm in the 1980's about women's eating disorders. Now the Harvard University psychiatrist is seeking a popular audience for similar concerns about men's unhealthy preoccupation with their appearance.

The Adonis Complex, subtitled The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession (The Free Press), tallies the high price that men pay for pursuing "an ever-more muscular, ever-more-fit, and often-unattainable male body ideal." Along with the two other authors -- Katharine A. Phillips, a psychiatrist at Brown University, and Roberto Olivardia, a clinical psychologist at Harvard's medical school -- Dr. Pope argues that the book's title aptly describes a condition shared by millions of boys and men who develop eating disorders, abuse steroids, work out compulsively, or otherwise obsess over their physical appearance.

The scholars offer two theories for what they see as a rise in Adonis-envy since the 1960's. Anabolic steroids have extended the limits of what bodybuilding can achieve, says Dr. Pope in an interview. And, for some men, in the wake of gains in women's equality, "the body is the last refuge of masculinity."

Many of the authors' observations are grounded in peer-reviewed scholarship. Their computerized tests have shown, for example, that gym rats typically exaggerate the musculature and underestimate the body fat of the average male physique, and wildly misperceive what women find attractive. The authors have also published extensive research on the prevalence of male "body dysmorphic disorder" -- an excessive preoccupation with perceived flaws in appearance.

But to make the case for a national epidemic and describe its origins, the authors had to engage in some educated speculation. "It's hard to produce exact estimates of how many men are seriously impaired," says Dr. Pope, "because the ones who are seriously impaired are precisely the ones who are reluctant to talk about it."

So they devised creative ways to marshal their evidence. To measure the prevalence of pathologies like male bulimia and steroid abuse, they extrapolated from small study samples. Their theory that society values ever-stronger, ever-leaner physiques sent them to the Library of Congress to compare Playgirl magazine models over time. And Dr. Pope's 14-year-old, Barbie-owning daughter gets credit for suggesting that his team look at boys' "action figures" as an indicator of how the ideal male physique has evolved. (G.I. Joe Extreme's life-size counterpart would have 27-inch biceps and a 55-inch chest -- a specimen rarely found in nature.)

Unfortunately, say the authors, the taboo against overt male vanity inhibits men from seeking help for their disorders. That's one reason their book includes several do-it-yourself diagnostic quizzes. They hope that publicity for the book will smash the taboo.

That hope may be well-founded. The Free Press released the book on May 17, a month early, after Time magazine wrote about it in a lurid cover package on testosterone and men's bodies. Dr. Pope wouldn't mind a little time on talk shows, too, where he could offer viewers valuable caveats. The most important, he says, is that concern with appearance is pathological only if it causes distress. After all, he notes, he spends 12 hours a week in the gym, and feels perfectly normal.

* * *

STEAL THIS BOOK: Jeff Schmidt did. "This book is stolen," the Physics Today magazine editor declares at the beginning of his new work, which he wrote on the job when his bosses weren't looking. "Written on stolen time, that is."

Mr. Schmidt acknowledges that at first glance, his book could also be seen as an exercise in bait-and-switch. With the title, Disciplined Minds, in bold letters on the spine, and the category "Careers" stamped on the back cover, the book will no doubt attract the attention of hard-working professionals eager for an edge over their competitors -- we mean, colleagues.

But Mr. Schmidt's subtitle -- A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-Battering System That Shapes Their Lives -- tells a different tale.

He envisions the readers of Disciplined Minds (Rowman & Littlefield) not as ladder-climbing careerists, but as "dissatisfied professionals and disillusioned graduate students -- the majority."

Maybe you can identify. Mr. Schmidt believes that most people enter the work world or graduate school with the belief that their labor will be of social value. More often, they find that it's of only economic value -- and not primarily to them. The hierarchies of professionalism leave them alone on their ladders, afraid to make a change.

If that sounds bleak, he has the solution. After examining the worlds of work and education with an eye for the political, he concludes with "Now or Never," a 33-point manifesto for changing the world, or at least your office.

It's not rocket science, says Mr. Schmidt, who earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Irvine. Form a union, fight elitism, and "undermine management's information advantage."

Sound like hard work? You're already doing it. For laborers in academe, Mr. Schmidt recommends reading "the weekly intelligence report for university bosses," The Chronicle of Higher Education.


http://chronicle.com
Section: Research & Publishing
Page: A26


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Copyright © 2000 by The Chronicle of Higher Education