After a 4-year hiatus, the famed and anticipated Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is back. This is despite being canceled due to low television ratings and sales, rising controversies surrounding the company’s CEO Lex Wexner and Jeffery Epstein, and concerns over its lack of diversity and size inclusivity. Therefore, consumers pinpoint harmful body image representations for women and especially young girls as a reason to celebrate the show being off the air.

Mainstream media consistently portrays the experience of being a teenage girl interacting with the internet and television industry: the experience of seeing what you’re supposed to look like but simply do not. An image of full hips, long legs, and tiny waists, so ever-changing yet ever-permeating the expectations of women’s bodies.

Portrayals of the ideal male physique are just as present in the social universe but are never discussed. Dreamy male stars in the next Netflix teen romance, masculine rap artists, and male influencers embody the supposed ideal physique of broad shoulders and defined abs. Girls on Tiktok lament about getting “icked-out” by their crush’s undesirable body, and other men fill the comments sections with degrading insults at how skinny, short, or chubby another man is, perpetuating a cycle of unattainable standards. Just as women face the problems of never fitting into the idealized molds of desirability, sex appeal, and “innocence”, men often find themselves constrained under the same nodes of unreachable standards. More profound than just weight, boys often feel the need to fit the shallow gap between too small and too big; the qualifier “too” begs for specificity and boasts an ambiguity that many struggle to reconcile.

It starts young. 90% of middle and high school boys exercise at least occasionally with the specific goal of “bulking up.” #fitness, quick ways to lose weight, pleads to trade fat for muscle overnight crowd the minds of the younger generations, crazed for an image of idealism owned by less than 10% of the male population. Though it’s easy to say that most men who consistently work out do that for personal fitness and health, the truth is that aesthetic goals and unnecessary weight loss motivate many. Influencers and content creators push diet plans and workout schedules on targeted audiences of high-school boys, who quickly spiral from purely inspirational to addictive weightlifting.

Eating disorders are another factor when analyzing the issue of young men and their body image. For years, eating disorders and anorexia have been linked to females, but there is increasing awareness about males struggling with these issues too. As social media becomes a universal reference of information for most boys, the standards of male bodies become less and less realistic. Studies have shown that a quarter to a third of those struggling with an eating disorder are male. Furthermore, disordered eating behaviors are increasing at a faster rate in males than females. Boys’ eating disorders can manifest in various ways, making it more difficult for parents and medical professionals to recognize them.

Another significant problem is stigma. Men are less likely to admit weakness and seek assistance than women because they may not want to be associated with a problem that primarily affects women. While many anorexic boys share a common motivation, the majority are concerned with developing a muscular physique. In order to obtain what they believe to be the “ideal” physique, boys may overtrain and use steroids or over-the-counter supplements to reduce body fat and increase muscle mass and definition.

According to research, having body image problems in men is associated with lower self-esteem and life satisfaction, as well as a lack of confidence. A wide range of mental health issues, including severe anxiety and depression, can be brought on by body image issues. The popularity of a muscular, lean body type on social media may cause body dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia in men. When people feel that their body is not lean or athletic enough, they are said to have muscle dysmorphia.

Yet despite all of this, not ever has a widespread effort been placed on lifting the long-running stigma associated with an “imperfect” male body. While it is commendable that increasingly more individuals and organizations recognize and call out the lack of diversity in the representation of the female body in the media, it is critical to do the same for how the male body is represented.

Cover photo: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons