As a child, I had two major male role models in my life. My father and my brother are two of the most compassionate, caring and intelligent men I’ve ever met. I’ve been lucky enough to grow up in their presence and I’m lucky enough to have them by my side, constantly building me up.
My brother, as an adolescent, was on the “chubbier” side. He always had a bit of fat on his belly and his hips. He didn’t have a lot of visible muscle on his arms or chest. He always dressed in large, baggy clothes. Before middle school, my brother never seemed to care about his appearance. He wore what he wore. He played little league baseball and ate ice cream at the local shop. As a child, he had no inhibitions.
Entering middle school, however, changed my brother’s outlook on himself. He seemed more self conscious and more concerned with his appearance. My brother would style his hair and wear excessive amounts of body spray. Although he got taller, he didn’t fully drop his “baby” fat until halfway through high school. I’m four years younger than my brother and at the time I didn’t understand my brother’s sudden shift in body consciousness. He was the same older brother who would watch cartoons with me and dare me to eat strange food combinations, but he had changed.
As a female, I’ve faced my own struggles and frustrations pertaining to body positivity in the media. Now that I’m older I can dissect the reasons behind my own insecurities and grow towards self confidence. I can also advocate for both female and male body positivity efforts. Male body positive is often overlooked, mostly because print and television advertisements are mainly aimed towards women. Still, men are negatively affected by the media’s perception of male beauty. 10 million men in the United States will experience an eating disorder, whether it’s anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating, in their lifetime.
The media believes that the epitome of male beauty is a lean, muscular man with subtle facial hair and light eyes. This narrow view of beauty harms men’s own views about themselves. How can we expect a world of self love when only one type of man is represented in media.
All male bodies have beauty.
Tall men are beautiful.
Short men are beautiful.
Skinny men are beautiful.
Chubby men are beautiful.
Muscular men are beautiful.
Trans men are beautiful.
All men are beautiful.
As soon as society begins to address the problems with male body image and the media, people can begin to accept their bodies for what they are: unique and beautiful.
