Brad Pitt's GQ cover is masculine, alpha and (hopefully) the end of Hollywood's ‘hot rodent' era
'A hot rodent man is … a way of describing a skinny, lanky, unconventionally attractive dude who does not embody stereotypical macho-like attributes,' said Men's Health magazine last June. Think Barry Keoghan, Timothée Chalamet and Josh O'Connor. The hot rodent man 'has more of a pointed, angular facial structure that is almost rat- or mouse-like, he rocks messy hair, sports vintage clothing, and, to borrow the internet's phrasing, is so wan as to appear one cigarette away from death'. While the internet's obsession with unconventional men will doubtlessly continue – and online, there's room for everyone – in celebrity circles and in Hollywood it feels as if the sinewy hot rodent boyfriend has smoked his last.
Brad Pitt is not the only man in the public eye sporting a bulkier look. As The Guardian reported in 2023, these days the size of your biceps has become as much of a status symbol as the size of your bank balance, particularly among men of a certain age.
Much has been made of 41-year-old Meta founder tech bro nerd Mark Zuckerberg's beefcake transformation – we're talking martial arts-honed muscles (he took up jiu jitsu in the pandemic), a foil-boarding hobby, a cringy gold medallion and an expressed desire for a return to more 'masculine energy' in the corporate world. 'A culture that celebrates aggression a bit more has its own merits,' he told a fellow muscle man, the right-wing podcaster Joe Rogan, in January.
Then we have rocket-launching, Amazon-owning tech bro Jeff Bezos, who – also at 61, and as the world's second-richest man – has been on a mission to optimise his physique for the past few years, reportedly enlisting Tom Cruise's personal trainer and, of course, eating a high-end, high-protein diet. The ripped results speak for themselves.
In a far cry from the Christopher Reeve as Superman days of old, today's Hollywood superheroes have real-life bodies per their characters – think Jason Momoa, Hugh Jackman, Dwayne Johnson, all above 45 years of age.
Fifty-four-year-old Matt Damon has turned hardbody for the upcoming Christopher Nolan movie The Odyssey, in which he plays Odysseus. Avengers star Chris Hemsworth, 41, is not only known for his hyper-muscular physique and home training videos, but also his Limitless TV series for Disney, in which he 'pushes himself to new limits to try and stop the diseases of old age before they take hold … [and] discovers how we all can unlock our potential to stay fitter, healthier and happier throughout our lives'.
At 50, David Beckham's fitness goals are to remain 'lean, strong and pain-free', according to his personal trainer, Bobby Rich, who revealed he goes through rounds of push-ups and pull-ups to give himself something he says he never had as a football player, a defined chest. 'I never had pecs until I met Bob,' Beckham told Men's Health in February, joking, 'You could say I've gone up a few cup sizes as a result.'
Even UK housewives' favourite daytime TV presenter Ben Shephard is at it, appearing on a recent cover of the same magazine with a six-pack, detailing his comprehensive workout plan and his diet consisting of six lean protein meals a day.
Muscles have always been associated with manliness, but the past few years of social media saturation have seen a shift in male beauty ideals, with the masculine beauty standard becoming a lot bulkier and more difficult to achieve, spawning a rise in body image issues among boys and young men. As building and retaining muscle becomes more challenging as we age – for men and for women – it makes the physiques of Brad, Bezos et al even more of a flex.
Their looks exemplify the West's growing obsession with biohacking our bodies for wellness and treating the body like a machine that can be optimised, a large part of which appears to involve (in the eyes of the consumer, at least) eating more lean protein to build muscle. In the UK alone, a national survey for Ocado carried out this year found that in 2024, nearly half of UK adults increased their protein intake, rising to two-thirds of all people aged between 16 and 34.
'It's hard to argue that muscles haven't always been some form of cultural ideal,' says Andrew Tracey, Men's Health UK's fitness director. 'You've only got to look at ancient Greek and Roman statues that accentuated muscular male physiques – and then fast-forward to the larger than life action stars of the '80s. However, I'd actually posit that 'smaller', less muscled, more achievable physiques have come to the forefront in the last few decades. One of the biggest shifts has been in the level of education and awareness of the general population on health and fitness.
'Men are more enlightened and empowered than ever on issues surrounding their health. Strength and brawn have always been cultural ideals, to some degree, but now, a growing number of men are able to pursue that ideal with education and discernment – and many are choosing a more holistic approach that benefits and improves their health across the board, not just in the mirror. More and more research is emerging, highlighting the health and longevity benefits of carrying a bit of extra muscle mass. So as long as it's done in a healthy and informed manner, there are worse things for men to do with their time.'
Of course, the body is almost always political and, in today's hyper-masculine political climate, perhaps it is easy to see why some men are eager to enhance anything about their appearance that could be construed as overtly masculine.
'The more conservative, regressive or perhaps the more 'traditional' a society makes itself, the more it will really endeavour – in its cultural work or product – to try to create two genders who look very different to each other,' says Meredith Jones, honorary professor of gender studies at Brunel University of London. 'Fashions spring out of the times we are living in … These movements are always cyclical.'
In other words, folks, get your fill of Brad, Ben and Bezos (if you so desire) while you can before these bods – and accompanying thigh-high boots – wade off into the sunset forever.
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