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
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