Hi friends! Welcome back to another post in the body positivity series. This time, I'm taking on the stigma that men are less effected by insecurities and have less issues with body confidence. Men are often overlooked in a number of contexts, including mental health and body positivity. These things tend to be associated with the female mind, when in fact, these issues occur in all genders. Expectations to look a certain way, not acting 'manly' enough, expressing how you feel and having insecure moments are not things commonly associated with being a man, when in fact they are all-inclusive problems. We should be complimenting the men in our lives and boosting their self confidence just as much as we do for the women.
So, I'm actually not a dude, but I do have some experience dealing with insecure men in my life. Plus, I decided to do a little research and found it so much harder to find articles about male body positivity! I even had a lot fewer choices when it came to choosing a picture for the title, which is kind of ridiculous. This is 2019 and we need to accept that we are not restricted to our gender stereotypes. We are all human, and all feel human emotions. Which means, contrary to popular belief, that men also have self-confidence issues. An article in the Guardian indicated that four in five men (or 80.7%) talk negativity about their own appearance. The article suggested that men were conscious of their stomachs, their chest size, their hair line and their weight. According to a Health Line article, 90% of teenage boys exercise at least once a week in order to 'bulk up'. The article attributes this Superman Effect to a celebrity culture and the glorification of hunky Hollywood stars. The reality is that these results are so unrealistic that the majority are left feeling inferior. Men are exposed to unrealistic bodies in films and through the media thanks to the rise of Instagram models. The suppositions men face are often overlooked when we assume that women are more insecure, which isn't always the case. Both genders seem to have equal amounts of expectations to live up to. Male body positivity is about more than just accepting the shapes of their bodies, it's also learning to deal with other factors such as their height, penis size and the definition of their muscles. Although you may think these are just physical insecurities, research has found that men feel emasculated by being shorter, having a smaller penis or having fewer muscles on display. Physical insecurities carry a lot more connotations, and men in particular can feel as though they identify less with how they feel society requires them to be. A survey found that 64% of students drew a political leader to be taller than average, and around 3 inches of height can separate an income by more than £4,000 a year. The implication that a persons height makes them more or less capable is just absurd to me. The reality is that male stereotypes have been constructed by society and the media and, honestly, are a load of crap. First of all, our physical attributes don't make us any less of a man or a woman or anything else we identify as. It's all about how we feel about ourselves and deciding that stereotypes are a load of rubbish anyway. I think the issue with male body positivity is that it isn't talked about as widely. It's important to be open about your insecurities, but also to acknowledge that bodies in the media are often unrealistic and/or photoshopped. These people are literally paid to work out, eat kale and utilise the best lighting for their modelling careers. The majority of us just don't have the time for that. Developing positive habits, like trying to be active when you can and treating your body well is the key to maintaining a positive relationship with yourself. Let's get more people talking about male body positivity in order to normalise the fact that everyone can feel insecure and that we should all be working towards appreciating our bodies, regardless of our gender. For my next post, I wanted to address the issues surrounding a different demographic. Ageism is a fast growing problem in society, with the rise of plastic surgery and a new anti-wrinkle cream on the market every five minutes. In that post, I'll be talking about the struggles of coming to terms with the changes your body goes through as you get older and learning to accept appearances across all ages. Until then, beauties!
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