Tucked into the pages of the comic books of the 1960s and onward, there was a classic full-page ad that told the story of a 90-pound weakling who is harassed and humiliated. While on the beach accompanied with his girlfriend, the skinny teen’s face is on the receiving end of a kick of sand, delivered by a rude musclebound bully. The ad was for the Charles Atlas Program and promised the secrets to gain muscle. Later, after following the exercises, the once runt now has the physique of superhero. Then after giving the beach bully a comeuppance attitude adjustment, he becomes the hero of the beach. And his girlfriend swoons over this macho display.
The lesson was clear to young teenaged boys dealing with body image issues: muscles make the man.
Muscle has long carried a paradoxical place in human culture—both admired and dismissed. In many narratives, muscle-bound figures are cast as brutes, reduced to tools of destruction or labor, subordinate to the intellect. Yet simultaneously, muscle is glorified—in the chiseled forms of Michelangelo’s sculptures, in the celebrated physiques of Olympic athletes, and in modern fitness culture. These contradictions reveal deeper truths about how muscle functions not just biologically, but symbolically.
Before the industrial age, muscle was power. It was the raw energy that built cities, tilled fields, fought wars, and shaped the world. To possess muscle was to wield control—physically, economically, and even socially. As machines began to replace manual labor, muscle’s practical necessity diminished. But its symbolic weight endured. Today, in an age of AI and humanoid robots, where strength no longer defines labor, muscle remains a potent signal—of discipline, health, attractiveness, and capability.
To have strong, lean muscle today may suggest more about character than utility. It can indicate self-control, perseverance, and a capacity for physical challenge—qualities that translate to perceived leadership and resilience. Muscles can still signal protection, readiness, and even reproductive fitness. Their appeal, deeply embedded in evolutionary and cultural narratives, persists even when practical need fades.
Muscles matter not because we need them to survive as we once did, but because they tell stories—about beauty, willpower, protection, and vitality. They reflect an individual’s relationship with their body, time, and effort. In a world where so much is automated and virtual, muscle may be one of the last visible expressions of effort—of doing something the hard way. It reminds us of our roots, our potential, and our human strength, even in the face of advancing machines.
In her new book On Muscle: The Stuff that Moves Us and Why it Matters, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are but what they mean to us. Tsui traces how muscles have defined beauty—and how they have distorted it—through the ages, and how they play an essential role in our physical and mental health.
Guest:
Bonnie Tsui is an American author and journalist. In 2020, she published a bestselling memoir, Why We Swim. Her new book is On Muscle: The Stuff that Moves Us and Why it Matters.
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This discussion will be recorded on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
