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We need to start talking about boys and body image. We've come a long way in highlighting the issue of body image, how our society shapes it and its effect on girls, but boys are suffering too, and the impact is growing on their mental health, bodies and self esteem. A thread.
According to a study by @CredosThinks nearly a quarter of boys think there's a perfect male body to strive for (23%) and more than half would consider changing their diet to look better (55%)
Approximately a third of boys aged six to eight indicate their ideal body weight is less than their current weight, according to @CommonSense study on Children, Teens, Media and Body Image. More broadly, by age 7, one in four children have tried dieting https://www.commonsensemedia.org/children-teens-body-image-media-infographic
The unrealistic body proportions of dolls like Barbie, and the effects on girls are well discussed, but male action heroes are just as problematic. Toys like GI Joe have smaller waists and larger biceps than any known human https://mediasmarts.ca/body-image/body-image-toys
Action heroes not just in toys but also in films are growing in size, with the 'ripped' look cast as courageous, tough and morally strong. Even the likes of James Bond are muscling up. The 'topless' shot of the male action hero is now a staple
https://www.boyhealth.com/are-action-figures-giving-boys-body-image-anxiety
https://www.boyhealth.com/are-action-figures-giving-boys-body-image-anxiety
Male celebrities themselves are starting to speak out about the physical and emotional toll on their body image, in trying to show a 'perfect body' to the world https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40863606
Male actors are also discussing how the expectations on the way they should look are beyond what men should look like. @ZacEfron has spoken about how his body in the Baywatch film was simply unrealistic and people shouldn't glamourise it https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2471182/zac-efron-thinks-his-baywatch-body-was-unrealistic
Last month @ZacEfron caused an outpouring of public emotion about the relationship between food, stress and men's body image. In a Netflix travel show he was emotional talking about how he hadn't eaten carbs for six months before the Baywatch movie. https://www.indy100.com/article/zac-efron-pasta-down-to-earth-netflix-orthorexia-9639566
It's not a surprise that social media is having a potent negative effect on body image and mental health. The thing to note is that it affects boys just as it affects girls, and is part of the recent rise in male body image and mental health issues https://www.dmarge.com/2020/02/ideal-male-body-shape.html
The changing ideas of what a man is supposed to look like - more 'manly', more muscly, are affecting men's mental health. In one study 82% of men "feel more stressed about not having an impressive physique than they did five years ago" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11813854/Men-are-much-more-stressed-about-their-bodies-than-five-years-ago.html
25% of men with a healthy weight think they are underweight. Men worry about their appearance more than about their health, family, relationships or professional success. 53% of men said they felt insecure about their appearance at least once a week https://time.com/19908/300-rise-of-an-empire-has-men-feeling-body-image-pressure/
'Toxic masculinity' is an idea increasingly discussed. This kind of masculinity isn't just about behaviour, it also shapes men's ideas about how men should look in order to be perceived as 'tough' and manly.
Refusal by men to wear a mask in the USA may be linked to how they think a real man should look. Men who identify as “tough” are more likely to respond negatively to mask-wearing. It might be weak to wear one, and show succumbing to fear and fear-mongering https://www.susqu.edu/about-su/newsroom/toxic-mask-ulinity-research-ties-masculinity-to-mask-resistance
Body image affects the mental health of millions of boys and men.
28% have felt anxious because of body image issues
21% said concerns about body image had caused them to dress in a way that hid their body or parts of their body in the last year. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/news/millions-men-uk-affected-body-image-issues-mental-health-foundation-survey
28% have felt anxious because of body image issues
21% said concerns about body image had caused them to dress in a way that hid their body or parts of their body in the last year. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/news/millions-men-uk-affected-body-image-issues-mental-health-foundation-survey
22% of men said they had negatively compared themselves to others because of body image. 11% have experienced suicidal thoughts and feelings and nearly 1 in 20 (4%) said they had deliberately hurt themselves because of body image issues @mentalhealth https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/news/millions-men-uk-affected-body-image-issues-mental-health-foundation-survey
We need to accelerate the conversation about male body image as its detrimental, even fatal, impact is growing. Yet ideas of masculinity are constructed on the notion that boys/men aren't supposed to care how they look. The truth is -as even the few studies we have show - they do
We need to start the conversation about body image with boys as young as 5 or 6 by which time their ideas are already starting to form. If we lay good foundations at a young age it gives them resilience. Even the fact of normalising the subject will pay off later.
The first hurdle is to engage boys in the conversation. Over half of boys (56%) feel it would be difficult to talk to a teacher in relation to their confidence about their looks, 29% feel it would be difficult talking to their parents about this http://www.adassoc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Picture-of-health_FINAL.pdf
"Boys are also far more likely to talk to their friends about their looks than to their teachers or parents" the problem is that they "are quite likely to laugh off any issues they have, as they are worried they will be made fun of or even bullied" http://www.adassoc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Picture-of-health_FINAL.pdf
We already know from research about girls and women how attitudes about body image can have lifelong negative impacts. We should be starting the conversation with boys from now to ensure they have healthy bodies, healthy ideas about being male and strong mental health / ends
