Beautiful Faces and Hunky Bodies

Pursuit of a body worth loving is one reason men will join the army. Commercials for the army make this point with more force than I ever could, lingering as they do on the “sexy” uniform and the soldier’s idealized body. Perhaps the only way a man can be sure he is attractive is to costume himself — in a tuxedo, in a uniform, in emo kid gear, in symbols of masculinity and power. Perhaps this is preferable to the manifestly less symbolic female beauty standard.