6 Feb. 16, 2015University Times

It’s Just as Hard to Be Ken as It is to Be Barbie

Roxana HernandezColumnist

Debilitating problems caused by skewed perceptions of the body is a real issue for men as well.

Last month, I talked about women’s body image issues and how it has become al-most inevitable for the media to encourage women to be thin. This time around I’d like to focus on something even I didn’t think about—male body image issues. It may not sound like a big deal, but the e�ect of the beauty blueprint (ideal image) in society has an appalling e�ect on men too.

Countless times we are told

standards. If we don’t already look like the beauty blueprint that the media has laid out for us we tend to have an immedi-ate response to want to change ourselves. For men, it is evi-dent that media tells them to get bigger rather than slim-mer. Sure, there are plenty of men who struggle with losing weight and becoming thin, but over the years an increasing amount of men worry more about becoming “bigger” and “building up” their bodies.

Unfortunately, body image

issues are rooted even from childhood. Growing up with unhealthy and critical imag-es and comments about how a boy/man should look and behave can make a massive impression on them. Body im-age not only a�ects how they see themselves, it a�ects how they interact with others and ultimately how they behave. Having this harmful exposure as a child only forecasts an even more harmful future. Ac-

and even family members par-take in this kind of harmful exposure that can lead males to become critical about their own appearance.

Part of the problem leading

to body image issues for men is the way those exposures are presented. For example, women have come a long way moving past their insecurities and their body image issues because support, spotlighting the subject matter, and open-ing discussions have been

-ured models slowly being ac-cepted in the fashion industry,

plus-size clothing lines being produced more frequently, and even chain stores being suc-cessful for plus-sized clothing. If you really think about it, men do not have this amenity. Rare-ly do we see the average man on media, let alone in stores.

Talking to a couple of guys, I

found that this is one of the ma-jor issues for them. Not being

frustrating and discouraging for -

ibility in fashion as it is, much less if their body does not con-form to the norm. The reason why we do not hear much about this matter is because we never ask, and when we do, these guys refrain from talking about it as to not sound complainant.

Most of us are familiar with

the phrase “be a man.” Although mainstream, we don’t realize the e�ect these simple three words can do to someone. Friends, partners, parents, even strang-ers saying these lethal three words—be a man—carry a great deal of weight. When this phrase is thrown around we are becom-ing part of the problem and es-sentially promoting detrimental behaviors. What we are doing is silencing them from expressing their emotions, their beliefs, and their lifestyles.

The most common type of

body issue men have picked up has been dissatisfaction with their muscularity; that is to say with having well-developed muscles. When one becomes pathologically preoccupied with muscularity it is safe to say that they may be su�ering some form of dysmorphic disorder with a focus on muscularity. In the bodybuilding community this may be referred to as “bigorex-ia.”

Muscle dysmorphia is an

emerging and relatively new form of body image disorder in men in which research has been but recent. Like women’s common body dysmorphic dis-order, men’s muscle dysmor-phia happens when they believe themselves to be “small” and “puny” when in reality they may be abnormally muscular. How-ever, “bigorexia,” as coined by the bodybuilding community is quite the inverse of anorex-ia nervosa commonly found in women’s dysmorphic disorders. Men will consume a lot of pro-tein, take steroids, and maintain careful diet, to try and achieve their unattainable goal according to the beauty blueprint image. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, one study found that men diagnosed with

muscle dysmorphia were more likely to develop depression, have a poor quality of life, have substance abuse or anabolic ste-roid abuse problems, and ulti-mately have attempted suicide.

This isn’t something we

should take lightly considering how blindly we appear when talking about body image issues only in reference to women. We are all victims of the me-dia when it comes to the beauty blueprint and excluding another gender from these issues is ab-surd. What we should be doing is having an open discussion about this and become aware of the severity of the issue. It may be

have a problem (if we do), but if a friend has risks of developing it there is no question we would help them, right?

How can we identify the signs of someone who may be developing a disorder like this? For one we should keep in mind that it is normal for people to feel self-conscious to a certain degree, but if they become ob-sessed with their appearance or if those obsessions or concerns begin to interfere with their dai-ly lives. This is a huge signal of someone who needs help.

Factors that can contribute to these disorders include: low self-esteem, feelings of inad-equacy or lack of control in life, depression, anxiety, anger,

expressing emotions and feel-ings. However, men that start to take steroids is a huge sign that they can or already have devel-oped some form of body image disorder. So when you see your friend undergoing any of these symptoms, talk to them about what is going on in their life and pick up the hints. Let them know that you are there for them and encourage healthy habits, or

treatments if necessary. While it is comforting to

know that women aren’t the only ones facing body image issues, it is time to open our eyes and our arms and work together to end the su�ering. The beauty blueprint is held at impossible standards and con-ditioning men to be stronger, muscular, and emotionless is very detrimental to their physi-cal and emotional health.

and knowing females aren’t the only victims is part of that awareness. We all share these body image issues and we all share the blame for being part of those issues. Rather than continuing with this mentali-ty, it is time to take action and discourage harmful comments, impossible physical and emo-tional standards, and be more understanding and less critical.