Let's Remember Our Men: Rise in Male Eating Disorders

As I was watching tv this week, I noticed several commercials that have men with no shirts on (like above picture). Maybe since it is almost summer....I don't know? In school, I had to analyze movie after movie, commercial after commercial of how women are objectified and feel less beautiful because of the images we see everyday. What about men? Do they feel insecure about the images they see everyday in the media? I decided to research....

Eating disorders have been extremely prevalent in women over the last few decades. However, what is often overlooked by media, doctors, partners, and families is the growth in male eating disorders. More and more today we are seeing unrealistic images of the male body on tv that rev up male insecurities. Movies such as "300" or several commercials show men with not six packs but ten packs!? Unfortunately, something you may not know is that male insecurities start at a young age and continue on to adulthood. Different organizations and programs weigh and monitor young men for football and basketball teams. When I say young men, I'm talking about 6-10yrs old! Little boys can be mean and call their friends fat or chubby. As men get older they are called "big guy" or "big boy" and this is accepted and cool. Deep down inside these men do NOT think it is cool that their friends are calling them this. Don't get me wrong we know that us ladies are called many rude terms that have to do with our appearance, but this article is not about us.

It is also hard to spot eating disorders in men because it is visually difficult to see a change unlike in women. Men can be harming themselves by undereating or overeating to gain more muscle, weight, body mass, and then using steroids to alter these things. The reason why there needs to be more awareness on male eating disorders is because men are not going to reach out for help like some women do. They tend to stay away from "emotional" conversations. Not only are they ashamed of the way they look, but they feel like their issue is "feminine" and are too embarrassed to seek help.

I think that everyone is beautiful no matter what weight they are and we all should just accept eachother. And the biggest part is that maybe only you have a problem with the way someone looks, maybe that person is fully confident in themselves and loves their body. I think the majority of the time these types of people that hurt others are insecure in themselves. This unfortunately leads to their targets becoming eating disorder victims or other types of bodily harm. We need to stop this because it's a dominoe effect, a chain, and a never-ending cycle.

Male eating disorders are rising everyday so it is best to become familiar with different signs. The type of careers we see this in is sports, modeling, running, dancing, etc. If you do notice anything please find a way you can help a friend or loved one.

image courtesy of google images