Outsiders Defining Deviance By Eugene Sandow

A key component of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is exercise. Working out helps control body fat and can prevent certain health conditions and diseases. However, working out excessively can be viewed as a deviant behavior. A deviant behavior is an act that departs from usual or accepted social standards. An example of this behavior is excessive bodybuilding. Questions that many ask are, “Why do body builders want to have a body that is so freakish? [As well as,] why do they exercise so often?” Body builders exercise excessively to stand out from the norm and use their bodies to conform to a deviant style. In the article, “Outsiders, Defining Deviance,” written by Howard Becker, Becker details the concept of deviance and provides insight

Weightlifting for entertainment purposes emerged in Europe, signaling the beginning of a physical culture never seen before. Initially, the purpose of this weightlifting was to impress crowds, not to have a visually pleasing body. These shows typically consisted of men pulling carts or lifting animals. The physical appearance of these men was not important now. The man who began the bodybuilding movement was Eugene Sandow. Eugene Sandow, born in 1867, immediately became a phenomenon with his unprecedented combination of muscle quality and strength. He became a turn-of-the-century physical cultural icon who is referred to as one of bodybuilding's greatest, even in today's climate of genetic freaks. Quoted in the article, “Walking Back in Time: The History of Bodybuilding”, by Universal Chest Day, the article states, “Sandow was responsible for advocating the establishment of bodybuilding and weightlifting competitions. Thanks to his promotional lobbying, a handful of the world’s most prestigious weightlifting competitions eventually emerged.” Sandow was famous, not only for his incredible strength but also for his finely sculpted body. Sandow himself started out in Europe as a professional strongman, outdoing all other strongmen to make a name for himself. He traveled to America in the 1890s to be billed as the world's strongest man, travelling the country and impressing people with his extraordinary feats of strength. Sandow was very influential in the creation of what would become modern day bodybuilding. Sandow was also very influential to the promotion of body building competitions and was the first to host the first bodybuilding competition in 1891 in the United Kingdom. He published one of the first bodybuilding magazines, “Physical Culture.” This magazine became a huge success. Sadly, Sandow suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage when, according to legend, he tried to pull his car from a ditch in the