Bodybuilding to the general public has always been an activity that was frowned upon. For some reason it became an abject activity and we really haven't obtained any acceptance at all. Like I said, 'fat' is a really bad word but 'muscle' isn't really a positive unless it is associated with athletes and sport. Bodybuilding can't be a sport in the true sense of the word because the judging is not about ability and so on. Perhaps 2500 years ago it was advantageous to have big muscles in hand to hand combat. When guns arrived all you had to do was pull a trigger. Being strong wasn't so important anymore.
A curious thing about women is that in most western cultures musclemen are a turnoff. That really is surprizing because fat guys, bald guys, short guys, old guys, ugly guys, gay guys, etc., are not in demand, either. Why isn't a large, muscular body attractive to women? If it isn't then why would anyone bother developing a body that does nothing for most women. That is not smart. I always believed that the skinning intellectuals argued that muscles were not important and the mind was. To me that was a rationalization to compensate for what those skinny guys lacked. What about the combination of brain and brawn? Is that guy attractive to women? I suppose the best that can be said is that he will do okay but will have a lot of stares and will be considered not as smart as others because of those muscles.
Decades ago it was believed that big muscles made you musclebound and slow. Ben Johnson proved that was false but many still cling to the notion that big guys are slow and do not have much flexibility. Mickey Hargitay in the fifties was quoted as saying he couldn't function unless he has a massage first thing in the morning. Many gullible people believed that because they wanted to believe that there was no advantage to have big muscles. To this day there is a culture that continues to be against big muscles. The reasons have changed slightly but the bias continues. If anyone big gets rich or famous he is the exception and the rest of the muscle guys are stupid, gay, or drug users. It is as if the public are looking for reasons to keep rejecting muscles.
If we forget about competition for a moment and just concentrate on strength and muscle size then surely in our sometimes threatening societies it is an advantage to be bigger than average and stronger than average. People tend to leave big guys alone and that size is a deterent to anyone messing with them or their families and friends. When it comes to reality people do respect big guys in person. They generally reject the posing and displays under lights and in magazines. However, in certain things it is acceptable. Comic book heroes are often huge. Superman was supposed to be bigger than the versions who have played him in the movies. They should make him smarter, too, and not go for a silly female like Lois! Heck, he could even be a bit naughty and look through clothes with that x-ray vision.
Arnold comes along and somehow succeeds with a package that surely couldn't do what he did. A German speaking Austrian musclehead is govenor of California? That guy makes $20,000,000 or more for playing a machine in Hollywood movies?! I suppose we all underestimated Arnold's motivation, persistence and philosophy. If he can succeed then why can't the other musclemen? Steve Reeves was the biggest movie star way back in 1960-61. Reg Park and a few others had some success as did big Lou. We have yet to see anyone with big muscles get an oscar for acting ability.
Even though a few bodybuilders had personal success it never rubbed off on the rest of the community. In a way we can say the sport has gone backwards in recent years because of the controvery over drugs. I don't agree that if we test for drugs that the sport will not have any big guys. There will be lots of guys getting huge but it might take a bit longer. If and when that happens there is no reason why some of those champions cannot make money in advertising and so on. I don't mean for supplement companies, either.
If we insist that big muscles are the ultimate ideal of the perfect man then add a PhD and we should have a superman. There have been several guys who came close to that combination. Zane, Scott, and a few guys who were doctors had brawn and brain. Somehow we need a philosophy of bodybuilding that will help everyone transcend the status we now have. While those drugs are being used and no testing done I am afraid there is no way we can change what the public thinks of us. If the Weiders and DeMilia cannot agree to do testing then the status quo will continue because neither side can risk losing all the competitors who would defect to whichever organization does not do testing.
You would think that if these drugs are illegal then why hasn't the government stepped in to test bodybuilders? Something just doesn't seem fair dinkum here and the lads carry on doing the same thing year after year. The bottom line is that the vast majority of people who want to build themselves up do not want to use dangerous drugs. You would think money could be poured into exercise science to come up with shortcuts to hypertrophy. Maybe scientists can find ways to get bigger without resorting to anabolics and so on? I wish Arnold would use his influence to initiate something along those lines. Guys get arrested for minor things and he says nothing at all about how silly all that DEA attention is. I guess his being a good politician he is not touching bodybuilders with a 10 foot pole.
