tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35127774.post1003083214549472089..comments2023-06-29T02:37:27.626-07:00Comments on Once More Unto the Breach!: Walking the TalkScotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382394444040541428noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35127774.post-11756199056307979512008-10-22T21:14:00.000-07:002008-10-22T21:14:00.000-07:00Oh Isis I am so with you on what you just wrote. I...Oh Isis I am so with you on what you just wrote. It just so happens I have a few advantages most others lack. The first and most important is I’m nearly fifty and now truly do understand and believe what is really important about a person is what you find under the skin. Besides which my feelings of self worth have always come from my intellect rather than my not inconsiderable physical prowess as a youth (my sisters sometimes caution me to watch my arrogance when I start debating fine points with them). As you see self-confidence has never been my problem.<BR/><BR/>The other advantages? Well while my physical peak is well behind me at fifty I can still easily rationalize my present level of fitness as better than half the twenty something males I see on the street (this is more a cutting comment on our society than me patting myself on the back). My comments of disappointment in the post result more from intellectual curiosity about my failure to change my body's performance levels as much as I thought I would after two years of intense effort. On the other hand I understand this is the first time I’ve approached bulking up from the over weight and unfit side. Until my late thirties I never stopped being an athlete so putting on a couple of kilos of muscle on top of a runner’s frame showed up immediately, whereas not only do I now have to struggle to put on the same muscle but I also have to lose several kilos of fat to see it. My embarrassment really stems from my intellectual laxness in allowing myself to deteriorate to my present state.<BR/><BR/>WARNING: LECTURE COMING!<BR/><BR/>But my biggest advantage is I don’t really care about my body image. I discovered the reason for this quirk in my early thirties. All educated people understand both our species and society revolves around the female. It’s the reason why male and female alike find the female form beautiful; and why society measures a woman’s standing therein in large part on personal beauty. Unfortunately as one of those females you always find yourself standing in front of a mirror having to compare yourself to the Heidi Klums of the world. Ouch! My personal belief is nature naturally compensates for this bias by some how creating sexual attraction for males in females. It’s the wildly varying differences in this level where all the fun begins because, I’m sure you know, all human embryos start out female. If too much of this attraction towards males remains after the transition then the male continues being attracted to his own sex. Of course some ‘self love’ by men is necessary to understand female desire and so better attract mates. The man who can look at his image and think that he’s “God’s gift to women” has a pretty healthy dose of this ‘understanding’ and its effects on the feminine mind! I, on the other hand, have zilch. In Dr. Kinsey’s famous 1947 paper he discovered about 40% of males have no sexual feeling for other males (versus around 10% being the opposite). A male athlete's finely crafted body evokes in me the same emotions a beautiful car or horse does – just admiration for their form and abilities. Nothing else. So when I look at a picture of my body it’s as if I’m looking at a hammer out of my tool box. It’s the fact I’ve allowed it to become so banged up it isn’t really suitable for the job any longer that I find embarrassing. It’s also the reason why so many men become slobs once they pass through their testosterone peak. They simply don’t care anymore. And also why so many men are so grateful for sex – because we really don’t understand why a woman would want it from us (I’ve never shared the widespread taste for lesbian pornography by males but I can understand why. It’s a sexual relationship they can really relate to).<BR/><BR/>So in short – I have the same emotional investment in my body than I do in JoeB’s – which is none at all.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08382394444040541428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35127774.post-13574850723148483932008-10-22T06:35:00.000-07:002008-10-22T06:35:00.000-07:00Another great post. I have long admired your willi...Another great post. I have long admired your willingness both to document and publish your progress/changes/whatever with your body. I could never do that. Part of it might be differences in gender and body-image. Part of it might be that I am a big chicken.<BR/><BR/>I do think that there is a place for non-visual assessment. Part of what you seem to be saying here is that there are changes in your body that you can feel but that do not show up in the pictures. Don't deny them just because you cannot see them.Isishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12050282354531898285noreply@blogger.com