The movement against the body-shaming of women has been going on since second-wave feminism began in the 1960s. While it is still a prominent issue women face, something that is often forgotten is that men have to deal with this problem, too.
While this issue’s effects on women seem more visible, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t advocate for body positivity for men. The body-shaming of men happens more on a personal level than a societal one compared to that of women—which is deeply tied to cultural and organizational structures.
One of my greatest pet peeves is to see women who are staunch feminists and who are body positive towards all women look at a man and comment that he is too skinny, too bulky or not toned enough. The practice is completely hypocritical and it is naive to believe that body-shaming doesn’t have severe effects on men’s health and wellbeing.
According to Glen Jankowski for Quartz, men’s “body dissatisfaction” is an increasingly common issue that can lead to “punishing gym routines, overly strict dieting and repetitive anxious thoughts—all of which can add up to have a severe impact on daily functioning.”
What is most startling is that according to Bradley University, 95 percent of college-aged men are dissatisfied with their bodies. Yet, according to Bradley, there is little-to-no awareness about this issue because it’s considered a “female problem.” On top of this, the university goes on to say that men are less likely to seek out therapy or treatment for body image issues and eating disorders.
This is a serious issue for men and due to the problem being blown off by the “be a man and deal with it” mentality, there aren’t many programs to assist men dealing with body image issues. According to Jankowski, what little programs there are tend to be prone to blaming the man dealing with the problem, or just removing unhealthy external influences from social media and telling the victim to ignore these external pressures.
Bryn Austin, a professor at Harvard, explains that “this limited and even unethical assumption places the burden solely on individuals while leaving toxic environments and societal bad actors unchallenged.”
While the entire population of women should not be blamed for men having issues with how they look, according to Jankowski individual women should be more careful and willing to accept that men also have body image issues. Therefore, women shouldn’t talk about men’s bodies in a way the women themselves wouldn’t enjoy.
If you’ve been a proponent of this trend, it’s not something to feel guilty about. We all make mistakes. The best thing you can do is be conscious of how what you’re saying may make others feel. Avoid commenting on others’ body types in a negative manner. For example, don’t comment on weight gains and losses; you’re not a healthcare professional so you have no business deciding what is healthy and unhealthy for people.
I’ll get off the soapbox now, but the point is we need to be body positive toward everyone, no matter what gender they are, because we all struggle with body positivity and self-esteem at times.
Kara Burke is an international relations and communication double major junior who eats pasta with every meal.