Why Do Men Have Body Pressure?

Diet pills in the drawer, tummy tucker underwear scattered on the floor, ads for ice body sculpting taped on the wall, and numerous more effects of the body image pressure society imposes can be found throughout any home. Throughout the centuries it has been the top priority of many people to make themselves as attractive to others as possible, constantly trying to change their body type based on the era’s perception of beauty. From the corset used by women to achieve the hourglass figure as early as 1730 to “muffin top” concealer underwear sold in most retail stores today. But who has needed these items the most? Many people say women, but in recent years men have been facing the immense weight of society’s expectations as well. For example,

Tracie Morrissey, a feminist and journalist says that women are the ones who have been the most harmed with these ideals. In her article “Men May Have Body Pressure, but They Don’t Even Come Close to What Women Go Through” she states that people argue boys go through body image pressure than do girls, such as “the ‘fitspo’ (short for fitness inspiration) tag, revealing muscular male models and ripped athletes”. But, “searching up “fitspo” did not bring up any results of posts made by teen boys, but instead, posts by teen girls hiding the ‘thinspo’ tag. These girls posted photos of Nicole Richie, articles on how to not over eat during thanksgiving, etc.” The author also reveals that boys do go through a short phase of dissatisfaction with their bodies, but puberty alters their bodies, bringing them closer to the masculine ideal. Whereas girls have almost the opposite effect since puberty increases weight and body fat (all normal changes) that bring them farther away from the cultural

According to Forbes magazine, the way a woman is judged is based on how she looks and what she wears, while for men it’s all about his success in his field or the respect he gets from others. Women are put under constant scrutiny for not only their body but for their face and personality and any blemish or scar results in degrading women, which should not be done for natural occurrences. Men, on the other hand, are free to do whatever they want and though people say magazines glorify the muscular, ripped male body, most men don’t even read these magazines and according to a study conducted by SIRC, “Men looking in the mirror are more likely to be either pleased with what they see or indifferent. Research shows that men generally have a much more positive body-image than women – if anything; they may tend to over-estimate their attractiveness. Some men looking in the mirror may literally not see the flaws in their appearance”. This rarely happens with women and should be immediately changed. SIRC a credited organization, guided by an Advisory Board consisting of eminent scientists and consultants, also agrees that women are undoubtedly the more pressured of the two and so did Morrissey and even Bahadur, who argued the opposing