01 December 2025

By Kathleen Starck

Hey, men, have you ever come across descriptions of men’s bodies as machines? Or thought of your own body as one? If so, you are in good company.

And it’s quite an old metaphor.

RW Connell in her 1995 book Masculinities, which we are reading in our class on “Masculinity and Politics”, describes it as follows: In many discussions of men’s bodies, “[t]he body ‘functions’ and ‘operates’. Researchers discover biological ‘mechanisms’ in behaviour. Brains are ‘hardwired’ to produce masculinity; men are genetically ‘programmed’ for dominance; aggression is in our ‘biogram’” (47). This approach ties in with explanations of gender through sociobiology. Put very simply, according to this logic, there is a biological core to the male body, which determines social behaviour (47).

Connell further argues that once such a metaphor becomes established, this makes discussion almost impossible, and it influences how research/evidence is being read (48). In a nutshell: If gendered social behaviour is biologically determined, what IS there to discuss, when it cannot be changed anyway. Boys will be boys.

“Men’s bodies as a machine” and its implicit logic are very much alive and kicking in 2025, even though Connell dismissed the approach already in 1995. Thus, in November 2025, the online Men’s Health Magazine (US) writes in its “Health & Fitness” tips: “Your body is a machine. Here’s how to take care of every part of it”. (https://www.menshealth.com/health/)

Examples abound in the world of fitness, but also health care and preventative medicine for men. Find more examples and send them to us. And win a book from our Wall of Books!

Sources:

Connell, RW. Masculinities. Cambridge. Polity Press: 1995.

Men’s Health Magazine (US): www.menshealth.com