The distorted body image
“Do you even lift, bro?” has become a common joke in our society, but it also reveals a common problem.
The pressure of women to be small and thin is no secret, but we often ignore the fact that men face a similar issue. Within the last three decades, the amount of men unhappy with their bodies has increased from 15 percent to 43 percent, according to studies published on the National Eating Disorders Association website.
We are constantly bombarded by images of the “ideal” body type. The media makes men think they have to be impossibly muscular and women think they have to be impossibly skinny. We are often oblivious to how much these images impact the way we view ourselves.
About 10 to 15 percent of people who suffer from anorexia or bulimia are male, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. While this number is much smaller than the number of women suffering from the diseases, men are less likely to get help because of the gender roles associated with eating disorders and body image issues, according to a study on the NEDA website.
We need to recognize that shaming our own bodies, or those of others, is unhealthy and cruel. But it’s easy to say that. It’s not so easy to stand by it in a society that just wants us to be a little bit more muscular or a few sizes smaller.
Instead of attempting to make a change, we often obliviously contribute to this culture of body shaming. We say “crop tops don’t work for certain girls.” We call skinny people anorexic as though it’s some kind of joke. We say “zero’s not a size.” We say men should be tough and “manly.” We judge and define people based on unrealistic standards of how they “should” look.
We need to recognize that eating disorders and body image issues should not be taken lightly, regardless of gender. We need to recognize that body image issues are not women’s issues. They are human issues.
We don’t have to accept this as an inevitable aspect of society. We don’t have to reduce ourselves to unrealistic standards, to gender roles, to counted calories or juice cleanses or steroids. We don’t have to fit the ideals of others and become something other than ourselves.
We can bring about change by recognizing the problem. By realizing the issue doesn’t discriminate against gender. By seeing that “Do you even lift, bro?” is becoming the new “Does this make me look fat?” And while the phrases might be could for a few sarcastic laughs, there is nothing funny about real eating disorders.
