Evolving ideals of male body image as seen through action toys

TLDR

The study hypothesizes that the physiques of male action toys reflect evolving American cultural ideals of male body image. The authors collected popular American action figures from the past 30 years, measured waist, chest, and bicep circumferences, and scaled these using classical allometry to a 1.78 m male. The figures have become increasingly muscular, with many recent models surpassing even the most muscular human bodybuilders, suggesting that cultural expectations may contribute to body image disorders in both sexes. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Int J Eat Disord 26:65–72.

Abstract

Objective We hypothesized that the physiques of male action toys — small plastic figures used by children in play — would provide some index of evolving American cultural ideals of male body image. Method We obtained examples of the most popular American action toys manufactured over the last 30 years. We then measured the waist, chest, and bicep circumference of each figure and scaled these measurements using classical allometry to the height of an actual man (1.78 m). Results We found that the figures have grown much more muscular over time, with many contemporary figures far exceeding the muscularity of even the largest human bodybuilders. Discussion Our observations appear to represent a “male analog” of earlier studies examining female dolls, such as Barbie. Together, these studies of children's toys suggest that cultural expectations may contribute to body image disorders in both sexes. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 26: 65–72, 1999.