Body Perception in Men

Although it is commonly associated with women, men can have problems with poor body perception as well. That is, many aspects of society influence the way men think about their bodies, including how muscular they should be, what type of haircut to have, how tall they should be, and many others. In particular, the media is a source of constant reinforcement of these ideas, in that advertisements, TV shows, movies, etc. generally use a specific type of male. Moreover, in some of these types of media, those men that do not fit the ideal body type are degrogated or shown in a poor light. This puts a lot of pressure on men to fit this ideal body image, and forces those that can not meet these expectation to experience many adverse effects. Therefore, what follows below is a look at the role the media plays in men’s body perception, the type of effects in can have, some proposed solutions to these problems, and a discussion of areas for further research.

The Media and Body Perception

From an early age, young boys are shown images of what society has determined to be the ideal form for men. That is, the men in movies, on TV, in magazine ads, etc. are generally tall, muscular, have strong jaws, high cheekbones, etc. Moreover, these men are shown being successful, attracting women, or dominating other men. For example, the lead role in most popular movies is a good looking male that fits these qualities, and by the end of the movie he is usually the victor. Even in cartoons, this is true, and, in fact often much more exaggerated. Also, other men that do not fit this ideal body type are generally portrayed as the losers.

Therefore, young boys learn that this is the way they are supposed to look. They grow having this idea reinforced, encouraging them to change to more closely resemble what they saw in the media. Furthermore, women and young girls are exposed to the same media, thus affecting how they see men as well. That is, because of the media, women expect men to look a certain way, thus compounding the issue. Overall, the media has a very powerful effect over how men and the rest of society sees them.

Furthermore, the academic literature on this subject is fairly strong. Many studies have demonstrated that certain types of ads influence men’s perception of themselves. For example, one study conducted by Leit, Gray, and Pope split the male participants into two groups, showing advertisements with muscular men to one group and neutral ads to the other. Afterwards, all participants took a body image test, and, as expected, those that had been shown the ads with muscular men expressed a greater dissatisfaction with their own bodies (Leit, Gray, & Pope, 2002). Moreover, a more general review of the literature found fifteen studies that showed similar results (Blond, 2008).

Adverse Effects of Poor Body Image

Because the ideal body type portrayed in the media is difficult or impossible for many men to achieve, it can result in several negative effects. First of all, it can lead to depression, as men might feel that they are not as good as other men that achieve or get close to achieving the perfect body. That is, if men associate being successful or attractive with how they look, as they have seen in the media, then not being attractive might make them feel more negative about themselves. Over a long enough period of time, this might lead to clinical depression. Furthermore, poor body image might lead to an eating disorder. This might happen if men try to lose weight to meet the ideal body type in an unhealthy manner, such as anorexia or bulimia, which affects over 3 million men (MirrorMirror, 2018). In other words, men might take drastic measures to change their weight that might cause long term health problems. Lastly, men might spend an inordinate amount of money on health supplements, gym memberships, medical procedures, etc. in an attempt to look the way the media has convinced them they need to. That is, men might become obsessed with changing themselves and might engage in self destructive behavior to meet their goals.

Solutions to Body Image Issues

While there is no one size fits all solution to this problem, there are a number of measures that can be taken to help mitigate the negative effects and to change men’s minds about the ideal body type. The first solution is to educate men, especially young boys, about diversity of body types. That is, teachers, parents, counselors need to teach men that they come in a variety of shapes and sizes and that only a small percentage of men fall into the type seen in the media. Second, men need to also be educated in general health. This would show them how to maintain a healthy weight, diet, etc., so that they will not do something drastic, such starving themselves, medical procedures, or over exercising.

Furthermore, government regulation and social pressure could be effective at changing the media to include more diverse body types. This has worked to some degree with women, as lingerie ads now feature women with many different body types. Likewise, men can push for something similar. If it worked, then different types of male bodies would be seen and men would feel better about their bodies.

Further Research

            The idea of body image perception does not go that far back, making the academic literature on the subject fairly shallow and not as well developed as other areas. In recent years, the amount has increased significantly, but many holes exist and much more research needs to be done. For example, there is not much on the subject of how successful certain types of interventions are. That is, the above solutions have not been tried extensively, and, therefore, have not been properly analyzed. Furthermore, more research needs to be conducted on the types of men that are more prone to be negatively affected by this issue. That is, it is not known if certain demographics are more susceptible than others. Knowing this would make it easier to create a more effective solution, as it can be tailored to the specific needs of a specific population.

Conclusion

            Society generally forces men to be tough and not to complain, especially about mental health issues. However, it would surprise most to learn that men suffer from depression as much as women do, and, in fact, rates of bulimia and anorexia are climbing. The National Institute of Mental Health claims that “Some men may turn to drugs or alcohol to try to cope with their emotional symptoms. Also, while women with depression are more likely to attempt suicide, men are more likely to die by suicide because they tend to use more lethal methods” (Men and Depression, 2018). Therefore, despite what society thinks about them, men need help from those around them, trained professionals, and society in general. One of the greatest threats to male mental soundness is attacks on their body image, specifically from the media. As shown above, this needs to change, yet the problem is getting worse. Therefore, it is up to everyone to help and to change society for the better.

References

Blond, A. (2008). Impacts of exposure to images of ideal bodies on male body dissatisfaction: a review. Pub Med, 5(3), 244-50.

Leit, R. A., Gray, J., & Pope, H. G. (2002). The media’s representation of the ideal male body: a cause for muscle dysmorphia? Pub Med, 31(3), 334-338.

Men and Depression. (2018).