For this week, I read a passage titled, Feeding Hard Bodies: Food and Masculinities in Men’s Fitness Magazines. I could not stress how much I did not like this passage. The author, Fabio Parasecoli is one of the most haughty authors I’ve ever read. He makes accusations that have nothing to do with fact and is entirely opinion-based. Yet, he passes up his work as if its fact.

The main points of the article are that, in a mens fitness magazine, its geared toward the building of the male body. He talks about how most of it is mumbo jumbo all to affect the psyche of the male looking to fit into the stereotype of an ectomorph, someone like a Chris Evans

or Tom Cruise. He talks about how a lot of the wording is to make us males feel guilty about how we look. He then talks about how men don’t eat things because of taste, but because its nutritional. For the first few pages, I understand what he is saying. He brings up valid points and as a white male who is very into fitness and

nutrition, I know what he is talking about firsthand. But when he starts talking about gender and basing things of one single article as well as a plethora of other points he brings up, thats when I lose all respect for Fabio.

He starts talking about the frail masculinty of men, and that men can’t cook because its to feminine. He mentions this on multiple occasions. Theres one part of the article that really bothered me, and thats when he is reviewing a singular article. The article has  a Miss Olympia contestant, who happens to be black, cooking and sharing some of her recipes. That is put together with a white male dietitian and Fabio instantly assumes that the arti

cle is saying that because its a woman, she belongs in the kitchen, and because she is black, she can’t be the dietician. I find so much trouble with this because the article is clearly trying to get a well known name in there, and I’m sure this Miss Olympia happens to be a very good cook and has nothing to do with just being a woman. I know that many bodybuilders are excellent cooks because meal prep is so important to achieving the body you want. But that part was not all I had a problem with.

The second chapter I had a problem with is in the, “How to feed a naked woman” section. He talks about a part in the magazine that theres some good recipes that help with performance is bed due to nutrients that are in it. This is all meals for after a one night stand. He has a quote where is says, “Thank goodness science is there to help men achieve goals and, to some extent, to reassure their apparently wobbling self confidence.” This man assumes the if a man looks for information to help better themselves, then that man has no self confidence, and I just don’t get that. It was unnecessary and uncalled for. As someone who lifts quite frequently, Im always looking for ways to better my health or performance, and it has nothing to do with self confidence.

Overall, the first three pages were good,  well thought out and informative. He then turned it into condescending, mean spirited opinions that are not based on fact, and for that reason, I would never read an

ything else by this author. I would not recommend this to anyone who thinks critically or enjoys aspects of fitness in any way.