I recently read a quick news bit from the Los Angeles Times entitled, "Teens want more muscle, some use steroids to get there." (http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-teens-want-more-muscle-some-use-steroids-to-get-there-20121119,0,1539435.story) It is mostly an expository piece, explaining how young teens have recently begun using steroids. The article alludes to the possibility that the children were "influenced by the media" to build up their bodies.
I feel that articles like this, in spite of their aggressive stance, are invisible next to the influence of popular culture. Television shows continuously depict "cut men" and "toned women", and despite the obvious fictional nature of the portrayals, young minds are highly impressionable. The first thing I thought of was: when electric belts were in vogue, how many children and young adults bought into the fad? It differs in that modern bodies are very visibly augmented, using documented science, where in the early twentieth century, assumptions were made about electricity and justified using thin evidence. But in any sense, emerging technology continues to revolve around shaping human bodies. Regardless of the warnings we see, Americans are overly concerned about body image, and with many thanks to the media.
This also relates to America’s obsession with Masculinity and that the fear of losing that masculinity is still present in the population. Furthermore, the continual drive towards gaining more manliness points at the ideal of American Exceptionalism. The belief that America and its people are better than the rest of the world makes its citizens feel as though they don’t belong unless they themselves are exceptional, pressuring them to conform to the society around them through obtaining success and the level of excellence that is associated with the nation. Naturally it is difficult to reach the invisible goal which relates to how Americans have continually turned to science and technology in order to find either an easier of more immediate result rather than through hard work and dedication making the ideal of American Exceptionalism based on artificial results. This contradicts the belief of the hard working American since historically the people of the nation have always looked for shortcuts to get the desired result easier.
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