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Still, a lot of people consider the idea of body-building a little weird, if not downright sick, an obsession with exaggerated masculinity at a time when traditional concepts of masculinity are under heavy assault.

Popular stereotypes. depict the body-builder as homosexual and narcissistic, a muscle-bound clown who functions as the male equivalent of the female "dumb-blonde" sex object.

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A psychiatrist writing in 1971 speculated that "body-builders may have serious unconscious doubts about their maleness and "since body-building cultists literally distort the body ... their activities may reflect a distorted body image.'

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Some body-builders will admit to early feelings of insecurity. Lou Ferrigno, now 6 feet 5 inches tall, told me he was small at the age of 14. He saw the Hercules movies, starring a body builder. "I used always to dream of being a real masculine person, like a form of superior, dominating Hercules."