New research by the University of East Anglia, in the UK, suggests that young men aspire to gym-fit bodies because more traditional routes to success and power have been eroded in a UK that is facing economic hard times.
These men share pictures of their worked-out bodies on social media to create a brand.

Researchers said that since the 2008 financial crash they had seen an increase in the number of images young men shared on social media.

“Austerity has eroded young men’s traditional means of value-creation so they have become increasingly reliant on their bodies as a means of feeling valuable in society. In theoretical terms, so-called ‘spornosexuality’ is an embodied response to material changes brought about by neoliberal austerity,” opined the author of the report on the study, Jamie Hakim.

Research found that these men had become adept at building a brand based on their bodies, which they marketed through social media.

But the problem, the research found, was that all the time and labour expended brought little reward.

“There is a correlation between the rise of young men fashioning muscular bodies and sharing them online and the austerity measures experienced by their generation. These economic tactics are widening inequality, especially for those born after 1980, with prohibitively high house prices, the loss of secure long-term contracts, tuition fees and other hurdles to economic security,” said Hakim.

Spornosexuality is a portmanteau of “sports star” and “porn star” coined in 2014. It refers to men who go to gym to enhance their appearance.

The spornosexual look has reached South Africa but is regarded as merely a lifestyle choice.

Credit: timeslive