Body image issue is a topic that has been highly discussed in our society especially across the social media but the trends show that majority of the time, the insecurities amongst women are addressed and the sources causing such false body images are condemned but the sad truth is that conversations about body image issues in men are literally non-existent. Does that mean men are absolutely confident about their looks? While I would definitely say the percentage of men confident or indifferent about how they look is higher than that of women but still, there are many men out there who are not comfortable with the way they look and are making efforts to change their body to their perception of the perfect physique as determined by the models in the movies and advertisements.
Men Too Are Insecure:
Body image issue is not only limited to women, many men face this issue but do not express it openly as they assume that this will hamper their masculinity. Understanding that both the genders equally need help and support to come out of this false perception is important. In fact, insecurities about looks have also given rise to stress and anxiety. As discussed by internal medicine physicians, it has been observed that people with body image issues are the ones who tend to fall into the pattern of eating and sleeping disorders due to their increasing insecurities about their appearance.
Media’s Impact on Body Image:
Media is the main reason which has given rise to body image issues in both genders. On one side they showcase a perfect figured model which many females start idolizing and get influenced to look like them. The same is with men when they see these male models and actors who possess perfect six-packs and extremely muscular body, it makes them conscious about their own body. Most people forget to realize that these images are edited and most of these models are starving or taking steroids to look perfect which is bad for their health. This is one of the reasons why recently statistics have revealed that there is a rise in the cosmetic surgery field owing to false body image issues.
Changing Lifestyle for the Wrong Reasons:
People suffering from body image issues make drastic changes in their lifestyle to attain their version of the perfect body, but such people are usually so desperate that they overdo everything, be it exercise or dieting. You will find these people burning out themselves in the gym and starving most of the time which causes a bad impact on their health.
The Right Way to Address Body Image Issues:
Body image is a universal issue hence we should not make it gender-specific. In today’s world, each individual has the privilege to access and contribute on social media to reach out to millions hence let’s change our mindset about being gender biased when it comes to encouraging people to accept how they look and make a difference by helping both the genders build confidence about the way they appear.
