Associations with negative body image are usually with women, and often for good reason, as girls are unfairly defined by narrow, unrealistic beauty standards from a young age, as well as being implicitly taught that their entire worth comes from their looks.
But, sadly, it's often downplayed or outright dismissed the notion that body image issues even exist for men — despite statistics suggesting that male body image issues are incredibly common, with nearly half of men admitting to body dissatisfaction and research showing that males experience body dysmorphia at the same rate as women, all of which can lead to low self-esteem, psychological distress or even eating disorders?
Eating disorders aren't typically associated with men, but according to the National Eating Disorder Association, numbers indicate that "one in three people struggling with an eating disorder is male" and that "subclinical eating disordered behaviors," which includes binge eating, purging, laxative abuse and fasting for weight loss, are nearly as common among men as they are among women
Virgie Tovar, one of the nation's leading experts and lecturers on fat discrimination and body image, puts it all into context, explaining that men tend to keep these issues to themselves, as they "feel shame or worry" at the idea of opening up about their problems
"At the end of the day, we all need to recognize that having negative body image is a highly likely outcome in our culture, regardless of gender."
Sarah McMahon, a psychologist and director of specialist eating disorders clinic BodyMatters Australasia, says that men tend to keep these problems to themselves despite numbers indicating an increase in body image issues among men
Billie Eilish, 19, opens up about body image issues: 'I was, like, starving myself'
UK
Australia
France
Germany
Russia
India
Canada