Everywhere it seems, rates of elective cosmetic surgery are on the increase. In Qatar, one clinic boasts of a two-year waiting list for cosmetic surgical procedures. Meanwhile, in the UK, the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) report a 17 per cent rise in cosmetic procedures for 2013, with a massive 41 per cent increase in liposuction. More surprisingly, BAAPS also reports that 10 per cent of these cosmetic procedures were performed on men. The pursuit of physical beauty is not only obvious and widespread, it now seems to be a “guy thing” too, but perhaps it always has been?
A 16th-century job advertisement, seeking applicants for the position of imam at Istanbul’s grand mosque lists seven requirements. Among them are obvious things such as fluency in languages – Arabic, Persian and Latin – along with knowledge of the Quran and Islamic jurisprudence. The sixth qualification, however, seems surprising and out of place to modern eyes. It stipulates that the imam should be handsome. This request for a good-looking imam is not an isolated case either. Numerous historic examples exist, with handsomeness explicitly specified as a requirement for everything from water bearers to hammam (bath house) attendants.
Male beauty has been celebrated for millennia. The Quran and Bible both mention the prophet Yusuf‘s (Joseph’s) beauty, and its dizzying effects on Zuleikha (Potiphar’s wife) and the other ladies at the Pharaoh’s court.
Similarly, within the ageless collection of tales known as One Thousand and One Nights, we frequently read evocative descriptions of male beauty. One protagonist is described as being as beautiful as the full moon, with “a black beauty spot at the corner of his lips as if it had been a drop of dark amber”. As with folklore the world over, heroes, winners and good guys are typically good-looking, while evil doers, villains and losers tend to be ugly.
But nowadays, if we ran a job ad with an explicit appearance requirement – “hotty wanted to head financial institution: fat, balding or grey haired males need not apply” – we would almost certainly fall foul of workplace discrimination legislation. Despite the veneer of equality, the preponderance of physically pleasing faces and sculpted abdominals in our magazines and on our TV screens suggest that we remain as fixated by beauty as ever.
What’s different now is that we have the technology to make obtaining our beauty and body image ideals a hopeful possibility.
There is a kind of warped irony at play here. Technological advances in farming, food production and advertising helped us get fat, and now technological advances in the form of cosmetic surgeries promise to help us get thin again.
Ethical and religious positions aside, the only obstacle between us, and an improved physical appearance (assuming surgical success) these days, is cost.
If we are willing to pay the price, we can tighten our belts (in the most literal sense). Liposuction and abdominal etching for example, one of the most popular procedures for men, can cost upwards of Dh12,000.
However, there are still many who prefer to pursue physical perfection the old fashioned way, through diet and exercise. But even here excess is becoming increasingly apparent.
Consider that boys as young as 11 years old are taking protein shakes to school, and eschewing the traditional, high carb, packed lunch. Dreaming of biceps that go bump and six packs that say “grrr”, these determined youngsters hit the weights during their lunch breaks, making an early start on the quest for masculine body image perfection.
It’s hardly surprising that the rate of manorexia (anorexia in males) is steadily rising in many nations too. For example, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2013 reports that eating disorders, once almost exclusively a women’s issue, are increasingly affecting males with rates now as high as 10 to 15 per cent.
Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. A silent consensus was reached a long time ago that physical beauty in males is youthful, athletic, symmetrical and gives the appearance of good health. Today, we have technologies that can help us achieve or prolong an illusion of this ideal, and increasingly, men are prepared to sign-up.
Justin Thomas is an associate professor of psychology at Zayed University and author of Psychological Well- Being in the Gulf States
On Twitter: @DrJustinThomas
