It’s easy to disassociate body shaming with males, seeing as it’s a problem that seemingly only women face. But that doesn’t mean that men aren’t subjected to oppressive body image standards too.

Often when a man is body shamed it’s simply overlooked and maybe even ignored. However, this doesn’t mean that men’s body image issues just go away.

For every magazine telling women to “slim down” there’s another to tell guys to add bulk.

Countless movements to stop body shaming women have come about, and end up with successful results. However, when are there going to be more movements against body shaming men?

Because of the lack of consciousness towards male shaming, representation for males who are body shamed is often very slight in media. Sometimes the media can even become the attacker.

Popular media outlets such as TMZ demonstrate that perfectly. Their site maintained an entire category, “Livin’ Large,” that shamed celebrities such as Rob Kardashian and Tom Cruise for gaining weight.
Body shaming males isn’t just exclusive to older men, it also happens to young boys and teens too.

Throughout high school, males may be told by their peers that they are too skinny or too fat. No matter if it’s being said as a joke, it still hurts people’s feelings and is still considered body shaming.

The point is, body shaming doesn’t just start happening at some magical age, nor does it stop. And because of society’s ideology of what males should look like it’s perhaps inevitable that men are being made to be humiliated by looking in a mirror.

Some might not see this problem as a big deal. Women have been putting up with this for ages, so why shouldn’t men also put up with it? That’s the kind of thinking that contributes to less awareness and less consideration.

Initiating understanding doesn’t have to start in a big way; it can simply start at home. Looking into this subject and educating yourself so you can educate others around you is a good place to begin raising awareness.

Speaking up when someone is being body shamed can really make a difference in that person’s life. Especially in men, because of the lack of support they receive towards accepting their bodies.

Eventually, the media can be involved too. More movements to stop male body shaming and raising awareness can be made.
Popularizing things like plus size male models can show society that being a plus size male does not automatically make a man unattractive. Discontinuing the endorsement of what the male body should look like will help to show people how much body shaming is a bad thing, and how it holds us back from being able to spread true positivity to each other.

The more body acceptance is focused on being a “women’s problem,” the easier it is to push the edge, and the more men will continue to suffer unnoticed. All bodies are beautiful bodies, whether we are talking about men or women.