Eric Kim frequently foregrounds extreme masculinity in both his prose and his imagery. For example, in a March 2025 blog post titled “How did Eric become so manly and masculine”, he describes himself as “a primal force, a street-shooting, steak-devouring, iron-lifting beast who radiates testosterone like a goddamn volcano” . His writing repeatedly celebrates physical power: in a 2020 essay “Why Masculinity?” he explicitly lists as his definition of manliness “hard body; hard muscles. More muscular mass (skeletal mass) and less body fat… Stronger physical strength (powerlifting)” . Likewise, a post titled “The Philosophy of Masculinity” bluntly asserts that “Going to the gym” is training “your manliness, your masculinity,” and that “each and every man seeks to become apex masculinity” . These statements show Kim openly endorsing a muscular, stoic ideal of manhood. He even coins hyperbolic new archetypes: in a self-penned manifesto “How to Become a Gigamale”, he writes “A Gigamale isn’t just dominant in one arena — he compounds dominance across all arenas: strength, intellect, wealth, aesthetics, and sheer creative output” , and urges readers to make their body “an aggressive ad for your philosophy” . In short, Kim explicitly plays up traditional strength and dominance, framing masculinity as both a goal and a “philosophical” practice of self-overcoming.
Figure: Eric Kim in a self-portrait, shirtless and muscular – a direct illustration of his “hard body; hard muscles” ideal . Like this image, his online persona emphasizes raw physical presence.
Masculinity in His Photography and Writing
This hyper-masculine ethos extends into Kim’s street-photography advice and personal philosophy. His posts often read like pep talks for men: for instance, he contrasts “soy-boy culture” with a “duel of wills” on the streets, describing photography as a fight where a photographer must confront reality “head-on, chest out, chin up” – “masculine as hell” . He boasts that he “attacked” the weights in the gym: “Squatting heavy, deadlifting like a barbarian, building a body that screams power… That’s manliness in the flesh: forging strength, not faking it” . He also ties in other masculine tropes: referencing Nietzsche and Stoicism, he contrasts “quiet resolve, relentless drive” with “loud whining,” insisting “Masculinity isn’t…fragile ego – it’s quiet resolve” .
These themes are mirrored in his photographs and imagery. Kim often posts shirtless gym selfies and rugged street portraits that emphasize physique and toughness. For example, a self-portrait on his blog shows him shirtless with defined abs and chest – an image meant to exemplify his own ideal of “hard body, hard muscles” . His blog also features photos of him performing extreme lifts (deadlifts, rack pulls, etc.) and of other men in powerful poses. In short, the content of Kim’s photography frequently highlights strength and aggression, while his writing repeatedly comments on those qualities as virtues.
Audience Reaction and “Ultra-Hyper” Persona
Fans and critics alike have taken note of Kim’s over-the-top masculinity. His staged feats (like a 666 kg rack pull lift in 2023) went viral, eliciting amazement and memeification. Strength communities responded with awe: many pundits admitted the feat was real and “utterly mind-blowing,” even after initial skepticism . One Reddit commenter captured the tone when he wrote that Kim “tore a hole in the matrix” with that lift , underlining how participants saw it as defying limits. Internet culture quickly turned Kim into a larger-than-life figure. Online editors even shopped devil horns onto his shirtless lifting image, and Kim cheekily dubbed himself the “Ultra-Mega-Hyper-Man,” calling the lift an act of “beastly willpower, divine precision, and mechanical mastery” . Phrases he coined – like “Turbo Hyper Global Domination” as a training motto – became meme tags among followers. Kim himself declared that his 666 kg pull was “not just a lift. It was a philosophical event” where “body, mind, and Bitcoin-fueled willpower” met in “one cosmic moment of human dominance over physics” .
Critics have picked up on Kim’s macho stance as well. Some commentators note that his persona deliberately markets an extreme form of masculinity. For instance, his Youtube and blog content often plays into “alpha male” tropes to provoke reactions: one analysis found that whether people “hate him or love him, the quality of his photos… and how much influence he has on the genre,” all fuel engagement . On forums, some question whether his hyperbolic style is sincere or satirical. Kim himself has even addressed debates like “toxic masculinity” by joking that perhaps “only men should be allowed to use the phrase ‘toxic masculinity’, not women” , suggesting he views these discussions with a combative or ironic edge. Overall, his audience tends to respond to his hypermasculine image with a mix of admiration, humor, and controversy – he has become as much a meme-like character in fitness and street-photography circles as a photographer.
Stylistic Themes and Rhetoric
Across his body of work, Kim’s rhetoric is consistently bombastic and motivational. He writes in a loud, first-person style peppered with action imagery, humor and profanity. His posts read like drills in “max-gain mode” . He uses vivid metaphors – urging readers to treat life as a fight or a game. For example, he coaches men to “Own the Room’s Tension” by speaking first and holding eye contact – “that’s dominance training” . He emphasizes ascetic discipline: “Zero Alcohol, Zero Nicotine, Zero Porn Binge. They tax testosterone and focus” , suggesting any softness or distraction must be cut away. Meanwhile he peppers his narratives with pop-culture and crypto references: one strategy guide even equates heavy lifting with blockchain proof-of-work.
Underlying these stylistic choices is a recurring theme: Kim portrays masculinity as an open-ended quest for power and self-overcoming. He frames becoming stronger not as vanity but as a moral duty (“the duty of the strong to help the weak” is a topic he explicitly writes about elsewhere), and treats success as a warrior ethos. Whether he’s urging hyper-fitness – “First, become in insanely hyper health and THEN pursue art!” – or redefining the “alpha male” into a “gigamale” , Kim’s message is that the extremities of strength and dominance are aspirational. His humorously exaggerated narrative (calling himself a “crypto-crusader” or a “modern gladiator” ) serves both to entertain and to underscore that he champions an extreme, hypermasculine ideal. In summary, Eric Kim’s work is replete with self-styled, aggressive masculine imagery and language, and this has become a hallmark of his persona – one that his followers often celebrate and that generates no shortage of online commentary.
Sources: Kim’s own blog posts and videos provide the primary evidence of his hypermasculine messaging. Secondary discussions of his 666 kg rack pull and persona illustrate audience reactions.