Bernarr Macfadden

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Macfadden posing as "David" in 1905.

Bernarr Macfadden (b. August 16, 1868 in Mill Spring, Missouri, U.S., d. October 12, 1955) was an influential exponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He additionally founded the long-running magazine publishing company Macfadden Publications.

[edit] Biography

Bernarr McFadden founded Physical Culture magazine in 1899, and later parlayed it into a publishing empire, including True Story, True Romances, the once-familiar movie magazine Photoplay, and a trashy tabloid newspaper, The New York Graphic. He was a celebrity who was an acquaintance of Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Will Rogers, and Rudolph Valentino. At the peak of his career he owned several hotels and a major building in New York.

MacFadden contributed to many articles and books including Superb Virility of Manhood(1904), MacFadden's Encyclopedia of Physical Culture (1911-1912), Fasting for Health (1923), and The Milk Diet (1923).

Macfadden made an unsuccessful attempt to found a religion, "cosmotarianism," based on physical culture. He claimed that his regimen would enable him to reach the age of 150.

Nicknamed "Body Love" Macfadden by Time, he was a flamboyant personality who inspired millions of people around the world to live healthful and vigorous lives. He was branded a "kook" and a charlatan by many, arrested on obscenity charges, and denounced by the medical establishment. Throughout his life, he campaigned tirelessly against "pill-pushers," processed foods, and prudery.

Macfadden's magazines included Sport, a preeminent sports magazine prior to Time, Inc.'s Sports Illustrated.

Macfadden was married four times and had eight children, seven of whose name began with the letter B.

He died of a urinary tract infection.

Macfadden also established many “healthatoriums” in the eastern and midwestern states. These institutions offered educational programs such as “The Physical Culture Training School.” Although he gained his reputation for physical culture and fitness, he gained much notoriety for his views on sexual behavior. He viewed intercourse as a healthy activity and not solely a procreative one. This was a different attitude than most physicians had at the time. Sylvester Graham and John Kellogg were prominent figures in the health world at the time and promoted abstinence.

Macfadden popularized the practice of fasting that previously had been associated with illnesses such as anorexia nervosa.^[1] He felt strongly that fasting was one of the most sure ways to physical health. Many of his subjects would fast for a week in order to rejuvenate their body. He claimed that "a person could exercise unqualified control over virtually all types of disease while revealing a degree of strength and stamina such as would put others to shame" through fasting. He saw fasting as an instrument with which to prove a man's superiority over other men.

Macfadden had photographs of himself taken before and after fasts to demonstrate their positive effects on the body. For example, one photograph showed Macfadden lifting a 100 pound dumbbell over his head immediately after a seven day fast. He also promoted fasting by appealing to racial prejudices, suggesting that fasting was a practice of self-denial that only civilized white men would choose to embrace. Macfadden acknowledged the difficulties of fasting and did not support it as an ascetic practice but rather because he believed its ultimate benefits outweighed its costs.^[2]

[edit] References

^ Griffith, "Apostles of Abstinance", p. 610
^ Griffith, "Apostles of Abstinance", pp. 611-621

Griffith, R. Marie. "Apostles of Abstinence: Fasting and Masculinity in the Progressive Era", American Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 4 (December 2000), pp. 599-638