Sizing up the ‘Dadbod’: Fitness, age and resistance in a male body type

Abstract

This article considers the cultural significance of a body type that has been largely overlooked in contemporary masculinities scholarship: the ‘Dadbod’. Defying popular culture’s typical preference for midlife invisibility, the paunchy physique of the Dadbod (often with ‘love handles’) centres a split discourse in being the object of both celebration and opprobrium. Prevalent in both celebrity and lifestyle discourse (often in contradictory ways), we interpret the Dadbod as key to a certain kind of narrative of male retreatism from the increasingly anxious ethos of bodily regulation and age transcendence. The Dadbod suggests an alternate, possibly more radical, incarnation of the ‘body positivity’ which more commonly serves as a regulation-by-another-name discourse for women.

The Dad Bod: An Impossible Body?

“…Neoliberal cultures position hyper-efficient bodies devoid of disability and illness as "normal," desirable, and worthy of visibility (Shildrick, 2019). Neoliberalism, celebrity culture, and the Dad Bod intersect on social media (McIntyre et al, 2021). Since 2008, media outlets and celebrities have used "leaked" photos of nude male celebrities for financial and social gain (Hakim, 2020).…”

“…Candid shots of such actors as Jason Segal, Jason Momoa, Zac Efron, Leonardo Decaprio, and Adam Sandler have proliferated on the internet under sensational headings like "Celebs Who Absolutely Rock Their Dad Bods" (Pennington, 2019), and "20 Celebrity Dad Bods We Can't Help but Love" (Pomarico, 2019). The sexualized commodification and subjectification of the semi-nude, soft, male celebrity body helped to make the Dad Bod culturally legible (McIntyre et al, 2021).…”