Male models. Inside their straaaange world.

What could possibly be a worse job than being a female model? Nothing. But being a male model isn’t a picnic either it would seem. Dannii Minogue’s model boyfriend Kris Smith has cursed the fact that he has struggled to regain his pre-baby body. What, is he all stretch marks and leaky boobs? News Ltd reports:

KRIS Smith has revealed that becoming a dad has played havoc with his diet and fitness regime – making him extra nervous for last night’s parade. The charming Brit stripped down to a pair of budgie smugglers in front of 400 VIPs (including Jennifer Hawkins and his parents) to launch Myer’s spring/summer collection.

Smith told Confidential he has not been able to train and diet as meticulously as for last year’s show. Being a dad to four-week-old Ethan – whom Smith describes as “awesome” and “so well-behaved” – was much more important.

Have you ever looked at those male models on the cover of men’s health and fitness mags and wondered….how? Why? So much attention is given to the pressure on female models to be perfect, what about how men are feeling when they look at this ridiculous images? And what of the models themselves? How do you even GET a 6 8 12-pack anyway? Vanessa Raphaelly writes…..

Ripped (also digitally altered)

This man is 33-year old Daniel Martin, who is one of the most successful models in the Health and Fitness industry.

A model whose ripped bod is in great demand to star on the cover of the type of men’s magazines who promise “6 packs in 6 weeks” and “Abs of steel, now.”

And as these mags are called things like Men’s Health you would imagine that the models they choose to cover their magazines, would be role models of exemplary fitness, as well as attractive to look at.

Here is what Daniel Martin has to say about what it takes to get in “cover shape. “The images on the covers of those magazines are misleading. They are selling a lie. They may represent what many men has come to see as a fit body, but in reality, they are probably in the worst shape they have ever been. A lot of those men will be dangerously dehydrated, putting a huge strain on their livers, feeling groggy and dizzy, struggling to keep upright.”

 

[This article first appeared on Hurricane Vanessa’s blog and has been republished here with full permission ]

Do you think there’s increasing pressure on men to be cut? Have you ever met an actual man as ripped as those digitally enhanced images on men’s health mags? Do men angst about it do you think? I think younger men do more than older ones….