Heuristic
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2009
- Messages
- 3,263
Hmmm... well perhaps the hatred you see expressed can also be explained by antagonism between different social groups?
There's also the possibility that the people who do stop by to post ridiculous threads like that have had negative experiences with individuals using steroids; and since even short-term, very moderate use is associated with a change in certain features of the personality during the time of use, I think that's a real possibility.
Add to the fact that most people tend not to use steroids (steroids require a lot of work to be useful---if you could pop a pill, party, and wake up the next morning with bigger muscles, I imagine use would increase), and you get a conjunction of negative experiences with OTHER people using, and no experiences themselves using, which adds to the alien, "other," aspect of steroids, making it all the easier to associate their use, and people who use them, with a negative image.
I'm not sure I agree though that fewer young men in our culture understand steroid use than do young men of previous generations. Given the increased pressure on body image, I'd be willing to bet that young men of the current generations are actually more tempted. I attended high school not all THAT long ago, and steroids were certainly easily available, and were certainly used by a fair number of individuals. Most who did used them on a strictly short-term basis, but there were a few who just couldn't put it down. I visit the steroid forum here infrequently, but I do recall a question there by a 17 year old baseball player asking about steroid use.* I also recall reading a fair number of questions by clearly young and inexperienced posters. I'd bet, unless law enforcement and deterrent education has been particularly effective, usage has increased. Just a guess on my part, though. If anyone has numbers, please post them.
*I think nearly everyone discouraged him from doing so, but I think the more frequent posters in that forum, those who are "staying current" on the issue of steroid use, could slam inquiries like that a little harder. By that I don't mean refuse to give information, but I do mean that, since we all agree that a kid that age should NOT be using, the discouragement should be crystal clear and fully explained. Someone that age is all the more likely simply to be looking for answers he likes, and to ignore answers he doesn't like. The kind of discouragement I'm talking about, from posters with whom he would associate a lot of authority on the matter, would be useful in cutting through the fog I think.
There's also the possibility that the people who do stop by to post ridiculous threads like that have had negative experiences with individuals using steroids; and since even short-term, very moderate use is associated with a change in certain features of the personality during the time of use, I think that's a real possibility.
Add to the fact that most people tend not to use steroids (steroids require a lot of work to be useful---if you could pop a pill, party, and wake up the next morning with bigger muscles, I imagine use would increase), and you get a conjunction of negative experiences with OTHER people using, and no experiences themselves using, which adds to the alien, "other," aspect of steroids, making it all the easier to associate their use, and people who use them, with a negative image.
I'm not sure I agree though that fewer young men in our culture understand steroid use than do young men of previous generations. Given the increased pressure on body image, I'd be willing to bet that young men of the current generations are actually more tempted. I attended high school not all THAT long ago, and steroids were certainly easily available, and were certainly used by a fair number of individuals. Most who did used them on a strictly short-term basis, but there were a few who just couldn't put it down. I visit the steroid forum here infrequently, but I do recall a question there by a 17 year old baseball player asking about steroid use.* I also recall reading a fair number of questions by clearly young and inexperienced posters. I'd bet, unless law enforcement and deterrent education has been particularly effective, usage has increased. Just a guess on my part, though. If anyone has numbers, please post them.
*I think nearly everyone discouraged him from doing so, but I think the more frequent posters in that forum, those who are "staying current" on the issue of steroid use, could slam inquiries like that a little harder. By that I don't mean refuse to give information, but I do mean that, since we all agree that a kid that age should NOT be using, the discouragement should be crystal clear and fully explained. Someone that age is all the more likely simply to be looking for answers he likes, and to ignore answers he doesn't like. The kind of discouragement I'm talking about, from posters with whom he would associate a lot of authority on the matter, would be useful in cutting through the fog I think.
