A qualitative exploration into how South African gay men understand the influence of social media on their own and other gay men's desire for muscularity

Abstract

Previous research exploring body image disturbances has principally focused on heterosexual white females and their desire to control their perceived bodily deficits, reinforcing society’s flawed belief that body image issues are exclusively experienced by women. However, existing studies suggest that body dissatisfaction does occur in men where body image concerns appear to be linked to their aspirations to enhance their musculature. Current research advocates that this desire for muscularity in men has occurred in relation to social media's representation of the ideal body. Moreover, research suggests that men with different sexual orientations to that of heterosexuality (i.e., homosexuality and bisexuality) experience elevated rates of psychological disorders which are frequently perpetuated by body image concerns. Whilst some research has focused on men’s body image disturbances, which appear to be linked predominantly to their aspirations for a more muscular physique, research regarding social media use and its influence on the desire for muscularity amongst gay men in South Africa has remained largely unexplored. To achieve this, this study aimed to explore the subjective realities and experiences of a sample of South African gay men regarding their understanding of the impact of their social media use on their desire for muscularity as well as other gay men’s desire for muscularity in South Africa. Thus, a qualitative research approach, situated within a theoretical framework guided by objectification theory, was utilised. Seven South African gay men were using snowball sampling and semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the participants. The interviews were audio recorded and analysed using thematic analysis (TA). From the data, the following three main themes were identified the mesomorphic ideal, the internalisation of bodily ideals portrayed in social media, and body dissatisfaction. Additionally, an overall integrated theme involving the need to be perceived as attractive to other men also become apparent. The findings of the study recognised the multifaceted, nuanced and profoundly meaningful experiences gay men lived regarding their consumption of social media and the influence this has on their desire for muscularity. The explored experiences and identified meaning(s) reflected some gay men’s understandings of, and reactions to, the intriguing world of social media use and the desire for muscularity. Overall, the conclusions of this study strive to expand on and bridge the epistemological gap, regarding the dearth of phenomenological research and subjective accounts, of the lived realities of problematic social media use and the desire for muscularity amongst gay South African men, which remains limited in current research.