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Be aware that men are coming under the same pressure on appearance that women have had for decades. I'm in my 50's, and can remember a time when there wasn't t
by marcus_holmes 5y ago
Be aware that men are coming under the same pressure on appearance that women have had for decades.
I'm in my 50's, and can remember a time when there wasn't this awareness of men's bodies. While it was admirable to be fit, and women certainly appreciated muscles and a lack of a beer gut, it wasn't seen as that important. Men could be flabby and still seen as physically attractive.
Moobs are normal. Not being able to grow a thick beard is normal. Body hair, or any hair, or not, is normal (I could count the number of hairs on my chest in my 20's and never once considered this to be unusual or in any way affecting my masculinity). I have friends who were balding in their mid-20's and that was normal.
The difference between 30 years ago and now is not in men's bodies. It's in our attitudes to men's bodies.
Men (and women, as always) are being taught to hate our bodies because businesses can profit from that emotion. We are being told that no-one will love us unless we're taller, stronger, hairier. We're being fed images of "perfect" men as aspirational targets that we should aspire to match (and to get there we need to buy a bunch of products, obviously).
We need to learn that all bodies are different, and all are acceptable. It's normal to have flabby bits. If you have to hate something, don't hate your body, hate the people telling you that your body is not good enough.
- adflux 5y agoPlease do some research before you state facts. Testosterone levels have been decreasing for decades, in significant amounts. https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2017/10/02/youre-not-the-man-your-father-was/?sh=e64cf8a8b7fd https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2017/10/02/youre-not-t...
- marcus_holmes 5y agoI'm stating my experience. This is a fact. Interestingly, the Forbes article you're referencing is partially based on this paper: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2612615 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/26126... which confirms a link between advertising and voluntary testosterone testing (entirely supporting my point). Men are being targeted by advertising that encourages them to think about their bodies differently.
- ceilingcorner 5y agoNo, actually testosterone levels have been dropping, sperm counts have been dropping, and American men are vastly more obese and overweight than they were even 50 years ago. That is a change. Just watch one of those old “Berlin in the 1920s” or “NYC in the 1970s” videos. You’ll quickly notice the almost complete lack of overweight people.
- simonklitj 5y agoSo, is the answer in our diet? Our types of jobs? This is an interesting phenomenon, and I wonder the cause.
- ceilingcorner 5y agoDiet, sedentary jobs, lack of walkable cities, and (for better or worse) removal of shame culture. If you’ve spent any time in east Asia, you’ll notice that being overweight is strongly looked down upon by society at large. This shaming doesn’t exist in America.
- amanaplanacanal 5y agoAs to shaming, I suspect causation goes the other direction, fat shaming has decreased because the number of fat people has increased. Looking at the time frame, I don’t think the other things you mention fit either. They just haven’t changed that much since the 70s. And they don’t explain wild and lab animals also being fatter now.
- simonklitj 5y agoI think you’re right. What about general propensity to obesity (as in genetically, or whatever) being more prevalent? I know people that eat far worse than me, and do far less than me, but are still far skinnier than me.
- hellbannedguy 5y agoI wonder about the testosterone. I have never had my testosterone checked. I knew one guy who had has checked, and it was by a female doctor who put him on pills. I've always wondered where that testosterone level database is? Maybe they test in the military? I don't know, but would like to know. I just found a study, but didn't dig into it: "Travison and his team analyzed data from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, a long-term investigation of aging in about 1,700 Boston-area men. Data from the men were collected for three time intervals: 1987-1989, 1995-1997, and 2002-2004."
- happymellon 5y agoWhile I do not disagree with anything you say, you also completely ignore that chemical pollution in our drinking water and food has been shown to cause changes in us. Instead of completely ignoring their point and just telling them to accept themselves as they are, why should we not also be looking at our environment and asking if it is impacting us?