“hi, my name is ____, im 5’10”+ and weigh 130-150lbs, and i want to get big, but not fat…"
Just an example of something that we’ve all seen running rampant on this site lately.
Let’s all take a moment now to scroll up to the very top of the page. Read it. T-Nation, Bodybuilding’s Think Tank. Now, we have more than bodybuilders on this site, and I think that’s fine. Perhaps we have taken on a more liberal use of the word “bodybuilding” here…BUILDING one’s BODY to be stronger, faster, more agile, bigger…etc. Ok. That’s fine.
Even in this very liberal use of the word “bodybuilding” have we here expanded that to cover “building one’s body to be SMALLER”? The answer: we haven’t. It doesn’t even make sense. That would be body-destructing, quite the opposite of bodybuilding.
So ok, let’s have some patience with these poor, misguided souls. Let’s slap them around a little (my gosh, only if it’s absolutely necessary though), get those ridiculous ideas out of their heads, and set them on the right path. I am all for doing that.
Now here’s where things start to take a turn. These poor, misguided souls post their pics, jumping over the footboard of their beds, or skipping rope, or something of that nature, and people rip into them. “Eat”, “Come back when you weight 100lbs more than you do”, “Put down that fucking jumprope, nancy-boy”, etc., etc.
Now, how many of us were told that a surface was hot as a child, and touched it anyway? I know I did. Maybe I was a stupid kid. Maybe I figured that “hot” was relative to the person saying that the surface was hot, and I just HAD to know how hot “hot” was. So I touched that hot surface and got burned.
So we draw the parallel between touching that hot surface, even though we had been warned. Sure enough, we got burned, just as the 6’0", 138lb frail-ass poster will get burned. They have been formally warned. It’s right at the top of the physique and performance photos page.
So, ok, that’s a basic overview of the “skinny boys posting pics” problem.
There are also females posting pics. Which is obviously fine. While this site seems to be dominated by males, we certainly do not frown upon females posting. However, there’s an important thing to notice here. This wonderful site has afforded us both a Physique and Performance forum and a T-VIXEN SORORITY forum. You can’t miss it, it’s not more than an inch or two underneath the “Physique and Performance” forum link, depending on the size of your screen, of course.
I don’t doubt there are wizards frequenting this site that have 72" computer screens, therefore making that distance closer to a foot.
Now, regarding the female posts, there are some things to be said:
-It is not very likely that we will see very many posts of females that are “bulking” in the sense that we’ve come to think of it. Meaning, it is unlikely that we will see very many female “bulk bellies”.
-Females do not post pictures on this site as often as males do. It is not a rule, it is not necessarily a preference, but it is a fact. Did I go through the archives and tally the male posts and female posts, and then compare the results of my experiment with the stated, expected results of my hypothesis? No, I didn’t, but you may if you’d like.
Please report back if you conclude that I am wrong in this regard, otherwise your silence will be taken as agreement.
Now, when females post in the “T-Vixen Sorority”, they get a great amount of support from other females, and sometimes men that poke their heads in. It is very unusual for men to poke their heads in to the “T-Vixen Sorority” to say “I’d Hit it”, even though this is a phrase that has been used to often, that it has been accepted as a norm of T-Nation.
At this point, it is a badge of approval. In some obvious circumstances, it is used in jest. From what I have seen, neither is taken to be offensive by regular T-Nation readers.
Now let’s look at something interesting. Let’s look at the “T-Vixen Sorority”. Specifically the word “vixen”.
Vixen- noun; a female fox. “She’s a fox”= she’s hot, she’s smokin’, she’s SEXY. These phrases are used interchangeably, because they mean the same thing. So there you have, women being objectified as “foxes” and “sexy” things to look at, written right into the infrastructure of T-Nation.
Contrast this with “Sex and the Male Animal”. Males- sex is an animalistic need for them, that everyone acknowledges, understands, and accepts. In all honesty, it is for females too, but when they act like men do about it, they are labelled as being promiscuous or, dare I say it, even slutty. That is, for the most part, the WORLD’s view.
Now, why would a female not post her pics in the “T-Vixen Sorority”…the place that has been set aside, especially for them? Could it be that they are fully aware that these sex crazed, male animals are lurking outside of the “T-Vixen Sorority”, and perhaps they want a little attention from these beasts?
Could it be possible that although she would not welcome men shouting and grabbing at her on the street, that she may be basking in the attention that she is getting on the internet? Certainly, I do not intend on implying that this is the norm, but it is certainly a possibility.
Why is it that people post pictures of themselves on the internet in the first place? Are they not looking for attention? I would expect a lot of people to deny their own vanity and use the excuse that they are just looking for objective opinions and honest criticism.
Well…do they not know REAL (as in, not INTERNET) people that could give them these opinions and honest criticism? Perhaps they are too bashful to ask for opinions and criticism from people that they know. Ok, fine. I can see how the internet would come in there.
Now, if they are going to post a picture, or multiple pictures, of themselves- showing their face, on the internet, couldn’t one conclude that they obviously felt safe and comfortable enough with the internet to do so?
Ok, now that we’ve established that, why is it that others feel it is necessary to go around trying to police the responses posted to someone else’s picture? And why is it that it’s always the older crowd that comes out and has a problem when some “young punk, dipshit” responds aggresively to an attractive female’s pictures?
Tell me, where are all of these protectors of virginity and all that is holy when everyone is ripping on some skinny guy? Or when a female occasionally jumps in with an “I’d Hit it” on a males pic post? I guess what it comes down to is that they want to come in and play the chivalrous Knight and carry the lady away on their steed.
