As women, we tend to focus on body image issues that impact our own gender. The phrase “body image” automatically makes us think of a woman’s self-esteem issues. However, what about male body image, or does it even exist? Gender stereotypes depict men as confident and careless individuals whose body image is often the least of their worries. Women, on the other hand, are more often judged by their bodies and expected to uphold a certain level of beauty. However, this stereotype does not mean that men are not impacted by body image issues, as well. Truth be told, the “perfect” images of male bodies that we often obsess over harm men just as much as “perfect” images of female bodies harm women.
The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) reports that eating disorders affect 4 to 10 percent of male college students. If about 1 in every 10 male college students suffers from an eating disorder, body image issues are not just realities for women. The NEDA also reports that between 28 and 68 percent of normal-weight adolescent and college age men perceive themselves as underweight and have the desire to gain more muscle. This desire to be muscular has caused many men to develop muscle dysmorphia, a subtype of body dismorphic disorder in which males obsess over being excessively muscular. Perhaps correlated to the rise in social media, a recent NEDA study found that male body dissatisfaction has increased from 15 percent to 43 percent in the past three decades.
The rise in the media’s attention to perfected and highly unrealistic bodies have affected how both men and women see themselves. We can understand male body image issues because they are not that different from female body image issues. The media shows us images of perfected bodies and we feel that our bodies are expected to live up to that impossible standard. As women, we cry wolf every time we see a female being objectified by males, but we in turn do the same by obsessing over the bodies of our favorite male celebrities. It is an issue that goes both ways; seeing perfectly-toned-size-zero bodies cause us, as women, to devalue our own figures in a pursuit to look like a Victoria’s Secret Model. In the same way, seeing an incredibly muscular male model, celebrity, or athlete causes men to devalue their own bodies.
While men can be objectified in the media just as much as women, there is still a difference in how men are depicted compared to women: men are depicted in a more realistic way than women. Underwear ads aside, when you look at the media, there are more diverse male bodies compared to female bodies. Women are depicted in the media as either stick thin models or “plus sized,” with very few bodies in between. Men, on the other hand, are depicted as overweight and perfectly chiseled, but also with in-between imperfect bodies, as well. Take a look at Marshall from “How I Met Your Mother,” Nick from “New Girl,” Don Draper in “Mad Men,” and even Leonardo DiCaprio. None of these men have the “ideal male body,” yet we still find them attractive and lovable. In comparison, we are trained to view only thin and extremely beautiful women in the media to be worthy of love. We are more open to real and diverse versions of the male body.
There is something to be learned from expanding the phrase “body image” to include both of the sexes. It is important to realize that men are affected by idealized impossible body standards just as much as women are and that negative body image hurts everyone. However, while men and women both suffer from body image issues, it is also important to take note of the acceptance that we have for a wide range of male body types. Having more realistic versions of the female body in the media rather than the two extreme ends of the spectrum could change our expectations of what a woman “should” look like. Noticing the similarities and differences in male and female body image will hopefully help us gain a better understanding of the issues affecting both sexes and help us move towards an acceptance of all body types – thin, overweight, and everything in between.
Sources:https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/statistics-males-and-eating-disorders