“Beer belly”, “man’s breasts”, baldness … They too, the members of the male sex are worried about their physical appearance. Even more than women, according to a study from the University of the West of England (United Kingdom) published in the journal Body Image last December. A total of 394 Britons were interviewed. Among them, more than four in five men (80.7%) referred to their body image by referring to their perceived flaws and imperfections, compared to 75% of women.
Anxieties, especially related to weight
The survey indeed revealed that the men were very anxious about their bodies:
- 80.7% described it in such a way as to draw attention to their weight or lack of hair, for example;
- 30% have already been criticized for their “beer belly”, 19% for their “man boobs” and 19% have been portrayed as “chubby”;
- 23% said their physique discouraged them from going to the gym;
- 63% felt that their arms or torso were not muscular enough;
- 29% confessed to thinking about their appearance at least five times a day.
Thus, some resorted to compulsive exercise (31.9%) or to strict diets in an attempt to lose weight. 16% have already followed a low calorie diet. About 4% even admitted to making themselves sick to control their weight, while 3.4% said they used laxatives for the same purpose. On the contrary, 18% followed a high protein diet to increase their muscle mass.
“Unrealistic ideals of physical perfection”
About three in five men (58.6%) also said that talking about their appearance affected them, generally in a negative way. Some 12% would be able to sacrifice a year of life if they could in exchange for a “perfect body”. 15.2% would give up 2 to 5 years. 5.3% would give up 6 to 10 years. 5.3% would sacrifice a decade or more.
Respondents notably criticized the media and celebrities for reinforcing “unrealistic ideals of physical perfection”. One respondent stated as follows: “Girls want to be thin and men want to be tall and thin. And while it’s not a bad thing that people want to look better, it feels more like a competition which has a negative effect on the mental health of most people ”.
Dr Phillippa Diedrichs, from the Appearance Research Center at the University of the West of England, conducted the study. In The Guardian, she concludes: “We knew that ‘body speech’ affects women and young people, and now we know that it affects men as well.”.
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