The man in the mirror

“BODY IMAGE ISSUES” is a phrase typically associated with women. There are countless magazine articles, movies, and television episodes dedicated to exploring women’s struggles with accepting their bodies, but very rarely does the media or entertainment industry give male body image issues coverage. Should they? According to students, psychologists, and those in the health and fitness industry, the answer is yes. This week, the Fulcrum takes a look at what body issues mean for men.

Gender debates
While there’s no doubt men can be affected by images of the “ideal” male body type, opinions vary on whether the struggles they face are comparable to those dealt with by women.

Lenny Sabourin, manager at the University of Ottawa’s Instruction Fitness and Wellness Programs, said men and women encounter very similar challenges when trying to achieve a so-called “perfect” body.

“I honestly do not think it is much different between men and women—it comes down to choices,” stated Sabourin. “Nutritional choices are definitely a struggle for everyone, as fast food and junk food are very easily accessible, cheap, and convenient.”

It may be equally difficult for men and women to reach their fitness goals, but Sabourin noted women are probably under much more pressure to have a certain body type than men are.

“I still believe there is more pressure on women than men,” said Sabourin. “The models on TV or in magazines make it so.”

Hanna Knowles, a third-year concurrent education student at Trent University, shared similar sentiments.

“I think women definitely have a bit more media pressure, just from what you can see around you,” she said. “You see way more posters and images of sexy women than you do sexy men. I think the idea [of body image issues] is kind of the same [for both sexes], but I think in general women get bombarded more.”

In January 2012, The Guardian published the surprising results of a survey conducted by Phillippa Diedrichs, a research fellow at the Centre for Appearance Research in Bristol, England. Diedrichs’ study found 80.7 per cent of the men surveyed referred to themselves in terms that promoted anxiety about their body, compared to the 75 per cent of women who did the same.

Michael Mulvey is a professor at the U of O’s Telfer School of Management who researches consumers’ reactions to marketing practices. He believes societal pressure on males to have a particular body type hasn’t historically been any less than that felt by women.

“I think when you look closely, men have been subjected to the same sort of forces as women have throughout time,” he said. “I guess it hasn’t been a manly sort of thing to call it into question or to wonder at what sort of impact it’s going to have.”

Lasting psychological and physical damage
Regardless of which sex faces more pressure to conform to certain body types, body image issues can lead to serious problems for both sexes, but those faced by men are oftentimes invisible.

The 2008 documentary Sexual Stereotypes in the Media reported that rising rates of anorexia, steroid abuse, and depression in men were linked to the increasingly common practice of male body stereotyping.

The proliferation of steroid use among both athletes and non-athletes has been found to be a result of male dissatisfaction with their bodies. In the 2007 book, The Muscular Ideal: Psychological, Social, and Medical Perspectives, Lynne Luciano reported over 17 million adults in North America use steroids or other performance enhancing drugs, and the vast majority of those users are men.

Dennis Chen, a third-year University of Ottawa student who studies biochemistry, believes DNA has a role to play in relation to body image issues.

“For some people, it’s easier for them to achieve [an ideal] body, whereas for other people, it’s in their genes to have more fat content,” he said. “Their body might not be as well defined and that could be unhealthy psychologically.”
Chen said working to achieve a certain body type that might not be possible can be damaging to men.

“If your main goal in life is to strive for that body, but you can’t get to that goal, it can wear you down and you can be depressed,” he said.

Men who take body image issues to heart can also suffer from muscle dysmorphia, a condition in which a person becomes obsessed with the idea he or she isn’t muscular enough. People who have muscle dysmorphia often train for extremely long sessions but have no athletic goals that require such intense workouts.

Jacques St. Jean, a senior client services attendant for the University of Ottawa’s Sports Services, said male gym goers with such tendencies are not uncommon.

“A lot of [weightlifters] are athletic guys, and they come in to train because they play sports and need to stay fit and in shape,” he said. “But you do get maybe 10 to 15 per cent of the guys that are really, really big [who] come in and basically there’s no purpose to it except training to get big.”

According to St. Jean, men who engage in constant heavy lifting without the supervision of a sports professional can easily hurt themselves by over-training.

“If you push too much or don’t get enough rest, you can tear muscles, ligaments, things like that,” said St. Jean, noting injuries from over-training can sometimes be permanent. “Your body doesn’t have time to recuperate, and that’s the worst thing you can do. That’s the way a lot of injuries happen.”

Media problems
For many people, the phrases “body image” and “commercial media” are inseparable. It’s true most of us consume TV, movies, magazines, books, music, and other popular forms of media at an unprecedented rate, and each of these things have a part to play in shaping who we are and how we see ourselves. This is no less true when applied to men and body image.

“The first thing I think of is what we see in magazines and TV,” said Chen, when contemplating the phrase “body image.” “What the ideal male image should be is constantly being projected to us. You have to have good looks.”

Knowles believes men can often be negatively affected by the unrealistic or manipulated images they’re presented with in commercials and popular entertainment.

“I think [body image] is definitely misinterpreted because of the media. They portray this ideal man as being way fitter and muscular than most men are, and some men can’t actually get to that physical shape,” she said. “I think a lot of posters and advertisements use Photoshop, so they’re not real. But I think definitely men can see that and think that that’s what they should be like.”

According to Mulvey, creators and marketers behind commercial media would not be in business very long if they intentionally presented the consumer with an unobtainable and unrealistic body type.

“I think the successful companies are really just reflecting what consumers want and what consumers needs are,” he said. “But what makes it interesting is that it’s not sort of a pure reflection, it’s a distorted mirror. There’s a little bit of selectivity there—they amplify certain things that they see and they also silence other things.”

Sabourin believes many men are affected by what they see in movies, magazines, and TV, but he stated he sees the potential for positive developments in this area.

“Now that there are more and more movie stars that are not all perfect and model-like, [meaning] they are also faced with a body image issue or obesity, it helps people associate with them and they don’t feel so alone,” he said.

Image success
While there may be a growing number of heavyset or super thin actors making it in Hollywood, it’s unlikely the disconnect between what men see on TV and what they see in the mirror will disappear any time soon. Short of boycotting all television shows, movies, and magazines, what can men do to keep body image issues at bay?

Luc Dumouchel is a U of O grad and a clinical psychotherapist who now owns a practice in the city. He explained one of the most effective ways to keep negative feelings in check is to view your body as a whole and avoid analyzing particular parts by themselves.

“Some people tend to focus on one aspect of their body—let’s say their weight,” said Dumouchel. “So one thing to consider is to look at the body as a whole picture, not just focus on one aspect [you] don’t like. Everybody has parts of their body—even top models—that they don’t like about themselves, and that’s fine.”

Dumouchel advised men who are prone to suffering from body image issues to pay more attention to the other aspects of their lives, rather than obsessing over their physical appearance.

“Another tip may be to ensure they have a healthy life balance,” he said. “If they’re active socially, they’re connected to a good support network, have healthy habits in terms of eating healthy, doing physical activities, things like that.”
According to Dumouchel, most men experience discomfort over their physical appearance during young adulthood and these issues usually subside over time, so it’s best not to get too hung up about it.

Sabourin said the U of O provides all of its students with an abundance of resources to help them achieve a healthy body and healthy body image.

“Sports Services offers a wide variety of programming to encourage individuals to lead an active lifestyle,” said Sabourin. “Our personal training service is a great way for anyone to get some education on how to safely work out and stay active. Taking part in these types of activities is very beneficial to one’s self-esteem and self-confidence.”

Both Dumouchel and Sabourin encourage men dealing with severe self-esteem issues to seek professional counselling, which is available to students through Student Academic Success Services (SASS).

“SASS has a great counselling and coaching service that could assist individuals dealing with some self-esteem or self-confidence issues,” said Sabourin. “However, if the issue is more specialized—like an eating disorder—then SASS would refer the individual to the appropriate specialist.”

The bottom line is men suffer from body image issues, and this is a problem that often goes unrecognized. There may appear to be less support for men fighting eating disorders, workout obsessions, or general dissatisfaction with their bodies, but there are places to go for help. Reach out to counselling services like SASS, trusted friends, or positive male role models if need be.

One of the best ways to combat less severe body image issues is simply to focus on the positive and put energy toward leading a well-rounded life. Sometimes the switch to a healthy, balanced lifestyle—one that doesn’t involve obsessing in front of the mirror—is all  it takes to put body image problems to rest.

—Keeton Wilcock