The desire for perfectly sculpted male abs is not new. They say
that if you hang onto something long enough, it will come back in style, and
that includes bodies.
Along with the female form, what is attractive in
male appearance has also undergone numerous influences, some bizarre, some
extreme in nature. Fads and fashions have come and gone. It has taken a long
while for the classic male form to resurface in popular culture, but it finally
has.
Clothing habits and religious
traditions have kept the male body under wraps for most of the past 2,000 years.
In early Christian times,
nike shox,
Rome ruled most of the known world, and everyone wore togas. The wealthy
over-ate; the poor were undernourished.
Only attractive servants and
gladiators ran around half naked. While most depictions of gladiators show them
semi-armored, the male abs are almost always exposed. Servants wore knee length
tunics that covered the chest. Nothing to see there.
During the formative
years of Christianity, only religious images were commissioned or preserved.
Seeking to avoid lustful thoughts and deeds, men and women hid their
attractiveness under long garments and head scarves. Self denial was the rule
and images of emaciated saints, long suffering, or innocent and chaste women
were created.
With the advent of Islam, Muslims embraced the established
values of Christianity and Judaism, and they,
mac cosmetic sale, too,
puma ferrari, covered the body. Women
added the face to the list of things you shouldn't expose in
public.
During the Italian Renaissance, great thinkers and artists
abounded. Looking for the ideal, or the divine, in the human form, artists and
sculptors resurrected the classical themes. Hundreds of pieces of art survive -
presenting poses in every degree of nakedness, and attesting to the beauty of
the human form. Great statues, such as Michaelangelo's David, were
created.
The Renaissance did not last long, and Western Civilization
quickly covered itself, again. European tradition was carried to the New World
by way religious escapees, and continued in that state until this very
century.
Not since the times of Greek heroes and Roman gladiators have so
many men bared there bodies, especially those male abs, in public.
The
Greeks revered the human form in its full development. They copied it and
emulated it, carving their Gods as images of the human ideal. The Classical
Greeks, who were notoriously self-righteous, even admired the body outside of
their people. Nowhere could they find it more developed than in the warriors who
fought as mercenaries for them, or sometimes against them, called the Gauls.
Today, we often call them Celts.
Modern weight lifting competitions base
their standards of development on the Greek forms of perfection. If you think
otherwise, just examine a copy of the statue of the Dying Gaul. It was not only
one of the most expressive pieces of sculpture ever made, it is a tribute to
every man who aspires to develop his body to its fullest potential - with strong
sinuous legs, a full set of pectorals, and glorious male abs.
Although
the ancient Greeks may have been the first civilization to publicly appreciate
male abs,
louis vuitton outlet, they're
probably here to stay.