Abstract

TORO-ALFONSO, José; WALTERS-PACHECO, Kattia Z.  and  SANCHEZ CARDONA, Israel. The Body Fit: Masculinity, Body Image and Eating Disorders in University Male Athletes. Acta de investigación psicol [online]. 2012, vol.2, n.3, pp.42-857. ISSN 2007-4719.

Hegemonic masculinity paradigm has an impact in men's life and in the way they construct its masculinity and body. The hegemonic model refers to a dominant masculinity over women and other men. The hegemonic masculinity represents the reference to strength, dominance, force, disconnection form emotions and the assigned social privilege. It is through sports that men form and conforms their body, among other men and women. Sports are without doubt, the public space in which men join together as equals and peers. In these rituals masculine bodies are re-affirmed among themselves and separate from women. In their quest for the body they want, male athletes may recur to risk behaviors. Those athletes with body image distortions could develop distorted eating behaviors. In this study with 385 university male athletes, selected by availability, we explored the body perception, the level of adherence to the hegemonic model of masculinity, and the presence of disorders in their eating behaviors. Findings shows that 76% of the participants reported from moderate to high levels of adherence to the traditional model of masculinity, 15% reported eating behavior disorders, and 9% showed difficulties with body image. There is a significant relation between the traditional model of masculinity and distorted eating behaviors and between difficulties with body image and eating disorders.

Keywords : masculinity and sports; body image; eating disorders.