A recent study has shown that both men and women are equally concerned with their body image, specially when the idea of 'the body' is directly or indirectly confronted in social situations. Unrealistic bodies promoted by propaganda influence the concept men and women have about their bodies, but the aim of this post is to focus on how men deal with body image.
A counselor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering reported that 95% of male college students over the last decade have expressed being dissatisfied with their bodies. Also, men that read fitness magazines with unrealistic male bodies regularly express greater dissatisfaction than those that don't read such magazines.
A survey conducted by Psychology Today found that men believe their appearance is much more important to women than women report it is. For example, men are overly concerned about losing their hair since women will not want to date them. In order to become more attractive, men spend billions of dollars on hair transplants, cosmetic surgery and pectoral implants. There is nothing wrong in wanting to have a healthier lifestyle; however, cosmetic surgery procedures involve many risks besides being expensive. And of course, men are not exempt from having eating disorders. The Alliance of Eating Disorder Awareness found out that between 2.4 and 3.6 million men suffer from eating disorders today .
According to a report from Bradley University, how men are concerned with their body image differs from women's in the following aspects: - Men are less likely to experience eating disorders -Men tend to express less their body negativity and to seek for help less often due to shame. However, women internalize body shame more than men. -Men are typically more satisfied with their body appearance and less likely than women to exhibit body-change behaviors. Nevertheless, other surveys have stated that men often feel "too thin or too heavy" to meet the male ideal. Just as today’s society expects women to become "top models"; American men, and men all across Western cultures, feel pressure to pump up their bodies and slim down, creating a combination of lean, bulky muscle. However, unhealthy male body image extends beyond the average college man. We need to encourage men to be more open with their views on body image and give more attention to promoting healthy, realistic male body image as much as we do for females. What does the perfect male body look like? This video is based on a recent poll which asked men and women what the perfect male body looks like.
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