Perfect Body-Image only

influences girls?

Didier Hilhorst
RSG Broklede 4Ve
GLC

Content
Hypothesis and goals.................................................................2

Methodology..............................................................................3
Results....................................................................................... 3
Article 1: Body Image Boys......................................................3
Article 2: Body Image Men.........................................................6
Analysis and discussion of results in relation to the hypothesis. 8
Conclusion.................................................................................9
Bibliography and other reference sources................................10

Hypothesis and goals

Main question:
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Are men, just as women, worried about the self-appearance when they see
idealized body-images?
In relation with this main question I got to the following hypothesis for this
research project: Body-images do not only effect women, men are influenced
by these images as well. Why did I chose this research topic? Traditionally, you
only hear women talk about their weight and self-appearance. They read
magazines like: Total Girl, Girl talk, Seventeen and Cosmo Girl and see pictures
of Doutzen Kroes, Gisele Bndchen and Kate Upton. They compare themselves to
these models and are influenced. A lot of researchers have found out that girls
are heavily influenced by these magazines. I questioned if men are influenced as
well by men magazines, as women are by women magazines. Are men also
influenced by a well-trained model or football player like Cristiano Ronaldo and
David Beckham?
My goals for this project are, to find out if men are influenced, and if so, how
heavily they are influenced. I think I would definitely see some similarities
according men and women, however I think there are some big differences as
well.

Methodology
When I got to my research question, I started to think about what I would expect
the answer to be and I looked up some general information about the influence
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of the media. After I had done this I went on the internet to find information and
sources regarding this issue. I searched some highly rated men magazines and
tried to see if they had a big influence. First I did not have any hits, but when I
typed magazine influence boys?, I was lucky. All the information I use regard
to the influence of the body-images on especially boys, but there is some
information regarding girls as well.
The websites I used are:
- http://mediasmarts.ca/body-image/body-image-boys (Body Image
Boys)
- http://www.mirror-mirror.org/body-image-men.htm (Body Image men)
- http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15160230/ns/health-mens_health/t/guys-havebody-issues-too/#.VWmm9kb7zm0 (Guys have body issues to)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_Health_%28magazine%29 (Mens
Health magazine)
The text from some of these websites will be included in this research. The other
websites are used as additional information to support or withdraw the facts and
opinions in the presented information.

Results
I will present the raw data of the following two websites:
http://mediasmarts.ca/body-image/body-image-boys (Body Image Boys)

Article 1: Body Image Boys

Traditionally, most of the concerns about media and body image have
revolved around girls, but more and more, researchers and health
professionals are turning their attention to boys as well. A growing body of
research indicates that although boys are less likely to talk about their
insecurities, they too experience anxiety about their bodies.[1]
Cultural expectations that guys have to be nonchalant when it comes to
their physiques makes body dissatisfaction in boys more difficult to assess,
but there is little doubt they are affected by media representations of
idealized masculinity. In addition, as advertisers increasingly turn their
attention to young men as a lucrative demographic, it is unlikely that such
representations are going to disappear any time soon.
Body dissatisfaction amongst boys and young men is fuelled not just by
the idealized male bodies they see in media, but also by the idealized
images of women that are represented. A 2008 study found that young
men were more self-conscious about their bodies after reading lad
magazines featuring photos of sexualized, scantily-clad women, based on
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the belief that girls would expect similar idealized physiques from men as
well. [2] Other research has found a relationship between the increase in
idealized male bodies in media and the rise in body dissatisfaction and
weight disorders in boys and young men: a 2005 study, for instance, found
that media influence had the largest effect on whether middle-school boys
were dissatisfied with their bodies. [3]

The increase in eating disorders in male adults is wellestablished. A study by the UK National Health Service found that hospital
admissions for men with eating disorders had risen by two-thirds between
2001 and 2011. [4] Eating disorders are also on the rise amongst boys,
particularly athletes. [5] There are also concerns that some boys some as
young as age 10 are becoming obsessed with building a muscular
physique, [6] a condition that is thought to be related to changes in how
muscular male sex symbols have become over the last few decades. [7]
This obsession may take the form of fixation with exercise, particularly
weightlifting; abuse of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing
drugs, which may damage the heart, liver, kidneys and immune system;
and muscle dysmorphia, whose sufferers see themselves as thin and weak
no matter how well-muscled they become. [8]
While the desire to be more muscular has been the focus in most of the
research on body image issues among boys, recent evidence suggests
that rather than focusing on building muscle mass boys are most likely to
focus on achieving or maintaining an average weight that is neither overnor underweight, to avoid standing out from their peers. [9] As a result,
boys who are unhappy with their bodies are almost equally likely to be
concerned about being too thin as being too fat. [10] This suggests that the
level of eating disorders and other body image issues may be higher than
is currently thought, since researchers have traditionally measured body
dissatisfaction in boys based on their desire for a more muscular build. It
also suggests that interventions based on those that have been designed
for girls may be less effective with boys: for instance, researchers found
that BodiMojo, a website designed to help youth deal with body image
issues, had positive results with girls but not with boys. [11]

This may be because while girls are typically open about being concerned
with their bodies in general and weight in particular, boys are under
pressure to avoid being too skinny or heavy without seeming to care about
how they look. [12] Julia Taylor, a counsellor at a North Carolina high school
and author of Perfectly You, describes her experience at a body image
awareness event: Guys did not even want to go near our table, she says,
but when she left the table boys would look at it, then walk away, then
come back and fold up a pamphlet real quickly and put it in their
pocket. [13] Parents, teachers and counsellors need to be more aware of
the prevalence of body image issues among boys, and not wait for them to
openly seek help; [14] as well, while boys need to be educated and provided
with the same sorts of tools as girls, they need materials that are
specifically designed for them [15] that not only address their particular
concerns (both the drive to muscularity and the pressure to not stand out
on the basis of weight) but are delivered in a way that boys can access
them privately, away from the eyes of their peers.
[1] Norman, M. (2011) Embodying the Double-Bind of Masculinity: Young Men and
Discourses of Normalcy, Health, Heterosexuality, and Individualism. Men and Masculinities,
14, 4: 430-449.
[2] Aubrey, J. S., & Taylor, L. D. (2009). The role of lad magazines in priming mens chronic
and temporary appearance-related schemata: An investigation of longitudinal and
experimental findings. Human Communication Research, 35, 28-58.
[3] Linda Smolak, Jonathan A. Stein. The relationship of drive for muscularity to
sociocultural factors, self-esteem, physical attributes gender role, and social comparison in
middle school boys. Body Image 3 (2006) 121129.
[4] Rise in male eating disorders tip of iceberg: charity. Alice Baghdjian, Reuters, July 13
2011.
[5] Eating Disorders May Be Rising Among Male Athletes, Anne Harding, Reuters, January
8, 2009.
[6] Jay Dawes, Mark Roozen and Marie Spano. Muscle Dysmorphia. National Strength and
Conditioning Association, June 3, 2009.
[7] Leit RA, Pope HGJ, Gray JJ. (2001). Cultural expectations of muscularity in men: The
evolution of playgirl centerfolds. International Journal of Eating Disorders 29:90-93.
[8] Kurtz, Sara. Adolescent Boys and Girls Perceived Body Image and the Influence of
Media: The Impact of Media Literacy Education on Adolescents Body Dissatisfaction. Carroll
University, December 2010.
[9] S. Bryn Austin, Jess Haines, Paul J. Veugelers. Body satisfaction and body weight: gender
differences and sociodemographic determinants. BMC Public Health 2009, 9:313.)
[10] Freeman et al. (2012). The Health of Canadas Young People: A Mental Health Focus.
Public Health Agency of Canada.
[11] Cousineau, T.M., Franko, D.L., Trant, M., Rancourt, D., Ainscough, J., Chaudhuri, A., &
Brevard, J. (2010). Teaching adolescents about changing bodies: Randomized controlled trial
of an Internet puberty education and body dissatisfaction prevention program. Body Image, 7,
296-300.
[12] Norman, Moss. Embodying the Double-Bind of Masculinity: Young Men and Discourses
of Normalcy, Health, Heterosexuality, and Individualism. Men and Masculinities, Sept 17
5

2011
[13] Grace Rubinstein. Boys and Body Image: Eating Disorders Dont Discriminate.
Edutopia, April 2010.
[14] Ibid.
[15] McCabe, M.P., Ricciardili, L.A. (2006). A prospective study of extreme weight change
behaviors among adolescent boys and girls. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(3), 425434.

Article 2: Body Image Men

The body image men have is different than the body image women have.
While we hear a lot about the importance of a healthy body image in
women, a healthy male body image is also important.

Body image not only affects how we see ourselves, it affects how we
interact with others and how we behave. It affects our physical and mental
health.
How Male Body Image Develops
Men begin to develop their body image when they are still children, based
on parental cues. When they begin attending school, their body image
develops further. The media also influences the development of the body
image men have. Under ideal circumstances, men develop realistic body
images. They understand what a healthy body looks like and have realistic
expectations about what they should weigh.
Unfortunately, if men grow up with criticisms about their appearance, their
body image may suffer. Men that are regularly exposed to unrealistic
images in the media may also experience a poor body image. Even little
boys that play with GI Joe figures may find their body image suffers; a GI
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Joe toy, if extrapolated into human size, would be taller than the average
man and have bigger biceps than any body builder. This gives boys an
unrealistic ideal to live up to.
Problems With The Body Image Men Have Today
A counsellor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering reports that over the
past decade, male college students have expressed increasing degrees of
dissatisfaction with their bodies. Men that regularly read fitness magazines
express greater dissatisfaction than those that dont read such magazines.
Male body image suffers when men are exposed to images of unrealistic
male bodies.
A survey conducted by Psychology Today found that men believe their
appearance is much more important to women then women report it is; for
instance, men believe if they lose their hair women will not want to date
them, even though many women say they are willing to date bald men. In
an effort to become more attractive, men spend billions of dollars on
things like hair transplants, cosmetic surgery and pectoral implants. Some
men go to great lengths to improve their male body image. There is
nothing wrong with trying to improve your appearance but cosmetic
surgery procedures involve some risk and these procedures can be very
expensive.
The development of eating disorders is a serious concern for men with
body image issues. Certainly not all men with poor body image develop
eating disorders, but some do. The Alliance for Eating Disorder Awareness
reports that between 2.4 and 3.6 million men suffer from eating disorders
today. Up to 20 percent of people with anorexia die from the condition, so
this is a very serious issue.
Addressing The Body Image Men Have Today

We must address the poor body image men have to prevent conditions like
depression, anorexia and bulimia. Of course a poor male body image is not
the only thing that causes such conditions but it can be a contributing
factor for some men. Its normal for people to feel a bit self-conscious
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about their appearance from time to time and its normal to have a few
small things youd like to change about your appearance if you could.
However, if men feel obsessed with their appearance or if their concerns
about their appearance begin to interfere with their daily lives, they should
seek help. For instance, a man that refuses to participate in social
gathering because he worries about his appearance should consider
counselling.
Certainly any man that has symptoms of anorexia or bulimia should seek
treatment. Symptoms to watch for include excessive weight loss, health
problems caused by excessive weight loss or malnutrition, eating very
small or very large amounts of food, excessive use of diet pills or laxatives
and vomiting after eating.

Analysis and discussion of results in relation

to the hypothesis
When we take the information from the two articles, it is easy to state that men
begin to develop their body-image when they are children. Children want to be
just like their father, strong and tall. When these children go to school their body
image develops more and more. They want to be the best and strongest one in
every game, and so there is a competitive relation amongst friends and other
children. When they get in contact with the media they will compare themselves,
just as girls. They see what a healthy body looks like and give themselves
expectations about the right weight. But the danger are the hero figures,
science-fiction images in magazines and the media, which gives boys an
unrealistic image to live up to.
In article 1, a research [1] is described which took place in 2005 whereby they
wanted to find out if the media had an influence about how people thought about
themselves The results were shocking, because they found out that the media
was the largest influence for young-adolescents to be dissatisfied with their body.
People think that the images they see are the answer to be healthy and good
looking, rather than have a normal Body mass index (BMI). The Body Mass Index
(BMI) is an index for the weight in relation to your body length. The BMI gives an
estimation of your health risk.
Another research [2] was done to see if boys were just as open to talk about
their dissatisfaction as girls. In this research, researchers found out that the
website BodiMojo (a website whereby people come together to talk about their
dissatisfactions) had a positive effect on girls but not on the men.
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In article 2, a counsellor at the Milwaukee school of Engineering states that in the

last few years, college students (especially men) are increasingly more
dissatisfied with their bodies. The men that regularly read men magazines are
more dissatisfied with their appearances that those who dont read these
magazines. The men who read a magazine, compare themselves with the welltrained man in the magazine and think that is a healthy life style. This causes
these men to get eating disorders and an unhealthy lifestyle, rather than the
healthy lifestyle of the person in the magazine.
Another problem according to article 1 [3] is that we are underestimating the
amount of people with eating disorders and body issues. Because a lot of
researches are based on the fact that all men desire to be muscular. But there
are some exceptions. Recent evidence suggests that there are a lot of men who
do not eat too much or too little, because they do not want to stand out. This
suggests that the men with eating disorders might be much higher than is
thought, because researchers have only measured the problems based on men
who desire a muscular developed body.
One topic comes back in both articles. Men base their idealized body-image of
what they think is the best figure, women like. When you think about this
biologically, this is not very strange. Men were always and are always trying to
stand-out so they have a better change with the girls. In article 1 this is stated
by a research [4] done in 2008 whereby they found out that men who read lad
magazines whereby sexualized pictures are shown. Think that women expect a
men to have a similar physique appearance as the women in the magazine. This
is why these men start to train, they are influenced by this lad magazine. In
article 2 this topic is discussed by a survey which was conducted by Psychology
Today. With this survey they found out that men are highly concerned about their
self-appearance even if women say they are not bothered. For example when
women say they are willing to date a bald men, men still believe that if they lose
their hair, women would not date them. This gives the impression that not only
media but also the expectations of women are a big factor in this issue.
[1] = Aubrey, J. S., & Taylor, L. D. (2009). The role of lad magazines in priming
mens chronic and temporary appearance-related schemata: An investigation of
longitudinal and experimental findings. Human Communication Research, 35, 2858.
[2] = Cousineau, T.M., Franko, D.L., Trant, M., Rancourt, D., Ainscough, J.,
Chaudhuri, A., & Brevard, J. (2010). Teaching adolescents about changing bodies:
Randomized controlled trial of an Internet puberty education and body
dissatisfaction prevention program. Body Image, 7, 296-300.
[3] = Freeman et al. (2012). The Health of Canadas Young People: A Mental
Health Focus. Public Health Agency of Canada.
[4] = Aubrey, J. S., & Taylor, L. D. (2009). The role of lad magazines in priming
mens chronic and temporary appearance-related schemata: An investigation of
longitudinal and experimental findings. Human Communication Research, 35, 2858.

Conclusion
First we come back to the main question: Are men, just as women, worried
about the self-appearance when they see idealized body-images?
After reading and analysing the results the answer to this question is: Yes, Boys
are just as worried about their self-appearance as girls considering body-images
they see in the media, however girls are more open about it. Girls are more
willing to talk about their dissatisfaction and discuss their problems, rather than
boys. Boys are more closed and isolated when they struggle with this problem.
The influences of men start immediately after you are born. People change their
behaviour, appearances as they are living their life. These influences do not only
come from the media, but also from your parents, friend and the community you
are living in.All these influences are the reason that most of the men want to be
as healthy as possible and relate these idealized body images to an healthy
lifestyle. However, these images are the cause of a lot of eating disorders around
the world and cause people to be dissatisfied with their body. But not only media
has a big influence on the appearances of men, the expectations of women play
another major role in this issue. Men constantly think about these expectations
and customize themselves to this idealized figure.
The hypothesis I got for this research is right: Body-images do not only effect
women, men are influenced by these images as well.

Bibliography and other reference sources

The websites I used are:
- http://mediasmarts.ca/body-image/body-image-boys (Body Image
Boys)
- http://www.mirror-mirror.org/body-image-men.htm (Body Image men)
- http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15160230/ns/health-mens_health/t/guys-havebody-issues-too/#.VWmm9kb7zm0 (Guys have body issues to)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_Health_%28magazine%29 (Mens
Health magazine)
All the websites are used on 30-05-2015 and 31-05-2015.

Sources from article 1:

[1] Norman, M. (2011) Embodying the Double-Bind of Masculinity: Young Men and
Discourses of Normalcy, Health, Heterosexuality, and Individualism. Men and Masculinities,
14, 4: 430-449.
[2] Aubrey, J. S., & Taylor, L. D. (2009). The role of lad magazines in priming mens chronic
and temporary appearance-related schemata: An investigation of longitudinal and
experimental findings. Human Communication Research, 35, 28-58.
[3] Linda Smolak, Jonathan A. Stein. The relationship of drive for muscularity to
10

sociocultural factors, self-esteem, physical attributes gender role, and social comparison in
middle school boys. Body Image 3 (2006) 121129.
[4] Rise in male eating disorders tip of iceberg: charity. Alice Baghdjian, Reuters, July 13
2011.
[5] Eating Disorders May Be Rising Among Male Athletes, Anne Harding, Reuters, January
8, 2009.
[6] Jay Dawes, Mark Roozen and Marie Spano. Muscle Dysmorphia. National Strength and
Conditioning Association, June 3, 2009.
[7] Leit RA, Pope HGJ, Gray JJ. (2001). Cultural expectations of muscularity in men: The
evolution of playgirl centerfolds. International Journal of Eating Disorders 29:90-93.
[8] Kurtz, Sara. Adolescent Boys and Girls Perceived Body Image and the Influence of
Media: The Impact of Media Literacy Education on Adolescents Body Dissatisfaction. Carroll
University, December 2010.
[9] S. Bryn Austin, Jess Haines, Paul J. Veugelers. Body satisfaction and body weight: gender
differences and sociodemographic determinants. BMC Public Health 2009, 9:313.)
[10] Freeman et al. (2012). The Health of Canadas Young People: A Mental Health Focus.
Public Health Agency of Canada.
[11] Cousineau, T.M., Franko, D.L., Trant, M., Rancourt, D., Ainscough, J., Chaudhuri, A., &
Brevard, J. (2010). Teaching adolescents about changing bodies: Randomized controlled trial
of an Internet puberty education and body dissatisfaction prevention program. Body Image, 7,
296-300.
[12] Norman, Moss. Embodying the Double-Bind of Masculinity: Young Men and Discourses
of Normalcy, Health, Heterosexuality, and Individualism. Men and Masculinities, Sept 17
2011
[13] Grace Rubinstein. Boys and Body Image: Eating Disorders Dont Discriminate.
Edutopia, April 2010.
[14] Ibid.
[15] McCabe, M.P., Ricciardili, L.A. (2006). A prospective study of extreme weight change
behaviors among adolescent boys and girls. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(3), 425434.

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