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In 2008, actor Taylor Lautner, then 16, was growing anxious. After , rumors swirled that , The Twilight Saga: New Moon. How could a 140-pound teen possibly transform into the bulked-up, muscle-packed man-wolf depicted in the second installment? Lautner had a plan: He began following a 3,200-calorie-a-day diet, hitting the gym five days a week, and eating every two hours. 鈥淚鈥檓 in the gym and I鈥檓 doing reps,鈥� in 2010. 鈥淚鈥檓 just saying to myself, 鈥業 want this role. I love this role. I鈥檓 not gonna lose it. 鈥� I鈥檓 gonna do that extra rep, because I鈥檓 gonna be Jacob Black.鈥欌�� By 2009, Lautner had gained 30 pounds of muscle. 

His swift metamorphosis was shocking. On-screen body transformations were less ubiquitous then than they are today, as recruits more and more henched heroes. But at only 17, Lautner was also observably rare in an industry notorious for . Teen shows like The OC, Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, and Teen Wolf often featured actors well into their 20s. These casting practices helped create between real teen bodies and those reflected back to them鈥攁nd contributed to growing anxieties among teens, including boys, who literally couldn鈥檛 size up to their fictional counterparts. 

A found that between 30% and 40% of men surveyed have anxiety about their weight and up to 85% are dissatisfied with their muscularity, while found pooled correlations between body dissatisfaction and anxiety and depression in men. It鈥檚 difficult to determine whether these climbing figures are symptomatic of heightened anxiety or of waning stigma, but we know boys are continually being .

鈥淏oys and young men have, in recent decades, become exposed to messages that women have been getting for much longer,鈥� says , an attending psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. In 2000, Phillips co-wrote a book called that explored why boys are increasingly devoted to the pursuit of physical perfection. 鈥淭he theory was that men started getting messages, starting in the 鈥�70s, 鈥�80s, certainly in the 鈥�90s, that they had to bulk up and be more muscular,鈥� Phillips says. From the late 1970s into the 鈥�90s, G.I. Joe and other action figures became visibly more macho, male models and actors heaved more muscle, and the swelling success of 鈥攁 touring male-stripper dance troupe in the early 鈥�80s鈥攅videnced a market where men鈥檚 bodies could be prized, adored, and commodified. 

During this time, attitudes toward fitness also evolved. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to realize that the gym, which in so many Western cultures is a prevalent fixture of people鈥檚 lives, is relatively recent,鈥� says , associate professor of history at The New School and author of the 2022 book . Her book charts how, beginning in the late 1950s, the gym refurbished itself into an institution that was both legitimate and legitimizing. She cites people like gym developer , who rebranded fitness spaces into luxury commodities, fitted with flashy equipment and tropical fish tanks, to signal not only a focus on self-improvement, but affluence too. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 something about the gym that is both about the body that it ultimately gives you鈥攍ooking like you go to the gym, looking like you鈥檙e making good use of your leisure time鈥攂ut then there鈥檚 also the activity of joining,鈥� Petrzela says. In this world, a fit body not only speaks to your strength but also shouts your success. But the hunt for muscular growth is also inexorably tied to the social enforcement of masculinity, a perpetual anxiety to prove oneself, to respond to threat. The inclination is to dominate your body, and in doing so, carry a body perceived to dominate others. 

It鈥檚 this need to dominate that has incidentally fueled America鈥檚 most notable fitness trends. propelled Dwight D. Eisenhower to introduce the Presidential Fitness Test in the 1950s, ostensibly preparing American youth for military service in the aftermath of World War II. The events of 9/11 were followed by . Michelle Obama鈥檚 Let鈥檚 Move! program came two years after the release of a report that found 27% of people between the ages of 17 and 24 were . 鈥淥ur military leaders know that this is not just a diet issue; it鈥檚 not just a health issue,鈥� Obama said in 2012. 鈥溾��&苍产蝉辫;

The pursuit of the physical ideal hasn鈥檛 slowed over the past decade, and Phillips and Petrzela both point to two overlapping phenomena that help explain its continued choke hold. First, there鈥檚 the of and . 鈥淥nce anabolic steroids became more available, a lot of the images boys and young men were seeing weren鈥檛 real. They鈥檙e a product of drugs,鈥� says Phillips. 

This culture of hypermuscularity has also been flamed by social media. 鈥淲hereas before you looked at magazines, or television, or went to the movies, there are now influencers, bodybuilders, and 鈥樷�� who are online 24 hours a day not only showing off their bodies, but also instructing, 鈥楬ey, you can get this by doing my workout, or taking this supplement,鈥欌�� Petrzela says. Shuffling through a sea of shirtless, sculpted bodies in the underwear section of a department store was one thing, but hourly exposure to algorithms primed to prey on your innermost anxieties is another wildfire altogether. 

Shuffling through a sea of shirtless, sculpted bodies in the underwear section of a department store was one thing, but hourly exposure to algorithms primed to prey on your innermost anxieties is another wildfire altogether.鈥�

Among boys and men, psychiatrists have even diagnosed a condition called 鈥渕uscle dysmorphia鈥� or 鈥�,鈥� which Phillips says is 鈥渁ctually a form of body dysmorphic disorder, which a lot of people don鈥檛 realize, defined as a preoccupation with a nonexistent or slight defect in one鈥檚 appearance that causes significant emotional distress or significant interference in daily functioning.鈥� These behaviors might include excessively working out and weight lifting as well as developing abnormal eating habits. 

There鈥檚 also a troubling propensity for steroid use, which carries and increases the risk of . 鈥淚t鈥檚 worrisome because it鈥檚 easy to trivialize, but for some people who have very severe body dysmorphic disorder, the ,鈥� Phillips says. Medication and cognitive behavioral therapy are effective treatments, but cultural issues also necessitate cultural responses. 

In 2017, requiring disclaimers to be added to retouched photographs of models. in 2023 that would require social media influencers to disclose when content or images have been edited, and prohibit them from posting paid content promoting cosmetic surgeries. Both pieces of legislation aim to regulate a lucrative, and largely feminized, image economy. Hollywood has yet to meet a similar reckoning. If anything, it鈥檚 increasingly routine for male actors, including Marvel stars Chris , Chris , Chris , and Dave , to promote their fitness journeys alongside their franchises, a profitable ploy to spotlight the methods that make them appear superhuman.

A renewed focus on young men鈥檚 pain is imminent. 鈥淏oys and men are really struggling now,鈥� said writer Richard Reeves in a March 2023 , pointing to widening gender gaps in school and academic performance, workforce retention, and health outcomes where men are observably floundering. 鈥淧overty, school quality, family instability 鈥� dramatically affects boys more than girls,鈥� said Reeves. He further asserted that in our reluctance to consider men鈥檚 pain, we鈥檝e created a vacuum too easily filled by the contours of retrograde masculinists such as , , and . 

Now in his 30s, Lautner has spoken candidly about his post-Twilight experience. 鈥淲hen I was 16 through 20 years old, starring in this franchise where my character is known for taking his shirt off every other second, no, or going to affect me in the future with body image,鈥� Lautner said on a February 2023 episode of his podcast, . 鈥淏ut now looking back at it, of course it did, and of course it is going to.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Lautner isn鈥檛 the only young man in Hollywood opening up about the emotional and mental weight of chasing physical perfection. 鈥淎ny shoot where you鈥檙e basically 鈥榮exy鈥� in any type of way can really mess with your psyche, because you鈥檙e struggling every day to live up to that guy,鈥� singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes told in 2021. In March 2023, Kit Connor, star of Netflix鈥檚 coming-of-age romance Heartstopper, shared his own body transformation story. , the 19-year-old replied, 鈥淭here was some people on the internet going: 鈥楬e鈥檚 a bit too skinny.鈥欌�� Connor鈥檚 plan included eating more and training harder. 

Immortalized on gym walls worldwide are four words: 鈥渘o pain, no gain,鈥� a rallying cry of persistence, or a warning call for all the emotional sacrifices and mental demands. Perhaps it鈥檚 time to forge new mantras, fresh scripts for masculinity that free us from anxieties that prey on our minds and our bodies.