The Beautiful Man

The narrative of beauty is predominantly female.  Occasionally we get a glimpse into the parallel narrative of male beauty when Yusuf, Adonis,  Romeo  or the Chaiwala become adjectives to describe attractive or romantic men. 

Male self-adornment has a long history: the Egyptians kings painted their nails red , used lip colour, and elaborate eye makeup; Roman Centurions  bleached their hair, used facial paint,  Roman and Greek Military leaders used  nail varnish and lip colours to match.  

The exquisite bejeweled  clothing of Mughal kings and nobility is legendary  and even today men wear finely embroidered Lucknawi  angarkhas. Japanese aristocrats of the past shaved their eyebrows, repainting them into elegant arches. The Samurai dress was a part of their code. European men of the 1700s used beauty patches, wigs and face paint, reaching excess in the next century with the Dandies and Macaronis.

Body paint in the tribal Americas, Africa and  Australia enhance spiritual or military strength.  The exquisite body art of tribes like the Maasai take hours of grooming. The Wodaabe of Niger, hold the only male beauty contest which is judged by women. 

Along with adornment, the male body itself has gone through many standards of beauty in the West, from the full belly representing wealth and plenty at the Fat Man’s club of the 1900s  to the gym junkies of today.  The 16C discovery of the Greco Roman sculpture, the Faranese Hercules, introduced the ideal of the  muscular body  to Europe. The Greek perfection of the male body ,with golden ratio proportions of shoulder to waist and  the abdominal v muscle - Apollo’s belt, continue to be a symbol of the perfect male body. 

The first body building contest was held in 1901 by German strongman Sandow. Charles Atlas introduced physical fitness in the 30s which inspired post-depression  America   "to be bigger than everybody else. Then nobody would mess with you.” The suits and coats with padded shoulders of the 50s Executive look were replaced  in the 60s by  the suave elegance of Sean Connery as 007.

The muscular and fit body was not just a symbol of aggression but also one of resistance. The Native American trained “to build a body both symmetrical and enduring — a house for the soul to live in — a sturdy house, defying the elements”

Wei Jie, famous in medieval China for his beauty, was described as pretty, soft, and frail, Softer icons continued in the definition of the gentleman, where elegance and not muscles were seen as a strength. The power of northern Indians lay in turn of phrase and manners rather than brute power.  

   

Bollywood, like Hollywood, shaped the ideal images of both men and women. The  mild mannered heroes became fighting machines.  Jamal Shaikh’s Men’s Health magazine  launched in 2006 stated “ Indians can have abs too!” Shahrukh  Khan became the first India star to sport six pack abs in Om Shanti Om 2007. The traditional akhara gave way to the gym.

Beards and moustaches, quintessential symbols of masculinity, were  adopted and rejected throughout history. Once symbolizing the peasant class, they were adopted by officials in colonial  Europe as a show of power. Alexander the Great established the eternally youthful clean shaven warrior. The clean shaven DIG Salim Vahidy and his men were unusual in the Pakistani police force. In a pack of cards only the king of hearts has no beard. However, beards sculpted and fashioned in complex permutations , have made a comeback across the world. Self-image continues to occupy men and, according to a study, 80.7 % of men express anxiety about their appearance.

Durriya Kazi

December 24, 2018

durriyakazi1918@gmail.com