Posted on Fri, Oct. 30, 2009
By Lini S. Kadaba
Halloween costumes for boys have gone all He-Man - big, brawny, and bulky.
Batman shows off his ripped six-pack abs. G.I. Joe Snake Eyes reveals bulging biceps and toned torso. Stormtroopers look like Paul Bunyans - on steroids.
"Every little boy wants to be big and buff," said Annsley Wight, assistant manager at the Halloween Adventure store at the King of Prussia mall, where she says G.I. Joe, Transformers, and superheroes are big sellers. "The smaller they are, the more they like muscles."
For years, cultural critics have lamented the body image bombarded at girls. On Halloween, sexy outfits like pirate wenches and sultry vamps are aimed at children as young as 4 years old.
But what about boys? They're hit with different but just as damaging media and marketing messages, say youth experts now watching the male body image promoted in pop culture.
The Y chromosome is all about muscles, firepower, and dominance - and one of the most blatant examples, researchers say, is the increasing number of supersized Halloween costumes this year, many with ab, pec, and bicep foam pads sewn into bodysuits for added bulk. Such beefy images - bountiful not only during Halloween but daily in movies, magazines, billboards, and toy stores - are thought to add to body dissatisfaction among boys, even increased steroid use among some adolescents.
Call it the "Super Scary Special Forces Ninja Bounty Hunter Fighter World Saving Man." That's how the stereotypical image blitzed at boys is described in the new book Packaging Boyhood: Saving Our Sons From Superheroes, Slackers, and Other Media Stereotypes.
"Halloween is about the stark commercialization of gender," said Lyn Mikel Brown, a professor of education at Colby College and one of the authors of Packaging Boyhood who earlier cowrote Packaging Girlhood.
"You can hardly find a costume now that doesn't have this padding," she said. "It's about that look and that idealized male body."
It's not just Superman. It's Superman with over-the-top muscles and a cinched waist. It's not just a warrior, but a barrel-chested ninja with enough big, scary weapons to take down North Korea. The Hulk comes in baby sizes.
At Halloween Adventure, Harry Potter (no muscles, just magic) and swashbuckling pirates are faves, but many more of the "deluxe" costumes - pumped up and therefore more expensive - appear in the shape of Transformers, Batman, Spider-Man, Ninjas, Power Rangers, Boba Fett, and others. Spirit Halloween, with headquarters in Egg Harbor Township, adds Iron Man, X-Men, and Teen Titans to the mix.
"We've definitely seen an increase in costumes with muscles in them," said Howard Beige, executive vice president for Rubie's Costume Co., a leading manufacturer based in New York City. Five years ago, he said Rubie's had 10 padded styles for children, including Superman and Batman. This year, it offers nearly 40. Batman, Clonetrooper, and Darth Vader are among top sellers, Beige said.
"We even have a toddler costume with sewn-in muscles," he said of the superhero line. "It's extremely cute. The kids love it. . . . You see them walking around flexing their biceps."
What's a parent to do? Encourage sons to think outside the superhero box, Brown suggested. A tip sheet says: "Help him imagine an action hero who plays the ukulele, scales mountains, sings, or goes on eco-adventures."
The reality is not so easy.
Over the weekend at Spirit in Media, 4-year-old Kenny Castleberry walked aisles of boy disguises - cute critters, scary monsters, and piles of beefcake superheroes and gun-toting soldiers.
"You want to be a little puppy?" asked his mother, Christine Corson, 32, of Brookhaven.
Kenny considered for a second and shook his head no. "Baby," he said. In other words, the preschooler had outgrown cute.
"OK, I tried," she said.
Later, Corson explained that the cuddly Halloween phase was over for Kenny as he picked out a sword nearly twice his height in length.
Like many parents, though, Corson isn't too worried about the choices. "It's one night for a couple of hours, for God's sake," she said.
Spirit spokeswoman Heather Golin said the popularity of muscle styles reflects more sophisticated consumers.
"Kids see all these superheroes on television," she said. "People who create these characters draw them with muscles, and these kids want to look like that character. Halloween is all about escapism."
True, one holiday of over-the-top pretend doesn't seem like a big deal by itself. The problem, argue critics, arises from the accumulation of images that promote a buff image of boys as ideal.
Brown points to the abundance of Abercrombie & Fitch ads that feature shirtless hunks. Or Axe brand that sells sex appeal as much as grooming products to tweens.
Or the pumped-up toys such as World Wrestling Entertainment figures, more violent movies, and Hot Wheels courses with nine crash zones - all marketed to younger and younger children.
Halloween getups that emphasize abs and biceps "absolutely point to the promotion of certain muscle ideals at a very young age, much like the Barbie doll for girls," said clinical psychologist Roberto Olivardia, an author of the book The Adonis Complex.
Boys have been reporting dissatisfaction with their bodies in nearly the same numbers as girls, research has shown.
"There's a cost with muscle men," said Amy Jussel, executive director and founder of Shaping Youth, a nonprofit that looks at the impact of marketing on children.
According to a study of 261 third, fourth, and fifth graders published in 2006 in the Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 49 percent of the boys were unhappy with how they looked, compared with 50 percent of the girls.
"It's equal-opportunity toxicity," Jussel said. "Media is defining kids before they can define themselves."
Contact staff writer Lini S. Kadaba at 215-854-5606 or Lkadaba@phillynews.com.
Post a comment
Subscribe now! Daily Headlines Newsletter
Philly.com news blogs
today's 
