Is Body Positivity for Men?

Body Positivity is all the rage in social media, and nearly everybody is using the body image movement as a form of unconditional acceptance. As I wrote in my previous blog, the biggest misconception about the movement is that it is only exclusive to bigger women. Today I am writing about something a little different, and perhaps a little out of my element. Today’s blog is focused on the representations (or the lack thereof) of male Body Positivity. Nearly everybody has body image issues, and this includes men. After some research and an informal interviewing process, I found that men are not generally allowed to voice their insecurities about their bodies as loudly as women.

Courtesy of Google Images

Participant one stated that he loves his body, but he believes that he is not tall enough. This plays into the idea that men are supposed to be the ‘bigger’ gender and his perceived insecurity stems from his lack of being ‘bigger’. Interestingly, the second participant said that he loves his muscle, but he wishes that he had six-pack abs. When it comes to Body Positivity, the ‘six pack’ is the very last thing on our agenda. Body activists advocate for a healthy body image that doesn’t involve looking like an unrealistic media figure. In the same way, women feel pressure to be slim, toned, trim, and ideally ‘thick’, men feel pressured to have six-pack abs. The third participant said that his shoulders were not broad enough. According to patriarchal norms, men are taught to be macho, therefore, being insecure about their physical appearance is frowned upon. A macho quality includes having broad shoulders, as it portrays evidence of the strength and the ability to protect the subordinate gender.

The last participant had something very interesting to say, which had nothing to do with his physical appearance. He mentioned that while he is happy with his appearance, he wishes that he was allowed to be as confident as women and gay men. In other words, this participant said he would love to be loud and proud about his healthy body image. This statement puzzled me, as I was hit with a paradox. Men are not allowed to be insecure, but they are also not allowed to be as deafeningly confident as gay men or women. The truth of the matter is, that most people are not always entirely happy with their bodies, and that includes men. Nonetheless, society is bombarded by confidence movements for women and queer people, but body image issues are a universal phenomenon and gender has nothing to do with it. #BoysNeedAssurenceToo #Bodypositivity