Men vs. Women body image...

jeffrodgers1

I was actually thinking we had it harder.

For a girl to be "attractive" she pretty much just has to be thin.

Guys have to balance bodyfat with muscle to look good. Skinny guys aren't attractive. So all in all I feel like we have to work a lot harder.

I kind of agree... I've also found that if you're a woman and someone gives you crap (makes a joke, comment, etc) and you throw it back in their face and stick up for yourself then you're better respected. Seems like men can't catch a break from that.... either way, we both have various struggles that the opposite sex isn't aware of...

GREAT GOALS in your Signature! Disney and Chicago are both supposed to be fantastic marathons... I have friends who've run both... and loved them... One even did the Goofy Challenge (Half Marathon Saturday, Full Marathon Sunday)

Keep it up!

tmjb999

I agree with outersoul. Im 5'2" and i used to weigh 190 and i was made aware of it plenty by kids at school. No girls wanted anything from me and my self-image was really low. as a result, now that im not as big as i used to and girls now find me more attractive I dont have the confidence to go up to one and start a conversation. Being big left me with low self-esteem and im still trying to overcome that. males and females receive the same amount of ridicule for being overweight, they just get ridiculed in different ways.

kjensen15

See I have the opposite problem to this. I am very thin, like ten pounds underweight and people are just awful to me sometimes. Mainly other girls but guys too. I've gotten facebook messages telling me that "I'm ****ing disgusting" or "hideous". It hurts so much. From where I am it only seems that guys like girls who have extra weight on them, big boobs and *kitten*. I am trying to gain weight mainly because of all the comments. So being skinny doesn't help much either. Everyone gets made fun of and picked on.

I can tell you in high school i was very thin. Graduated weighing 112 lbs at 5'7.5"... I was very, very active and ate like a grown man! Still there were all kinds of rumors going around that I was anorexic and I was starving myself b/c my bf and I had broken up... None of which were true at all!! So yes I can completely agree with you that even skinny girls can get picked on!

Still_Sossy

I think there is a double standard for women. Commercial advertising does place a lot of images of what societies image of women "should" look like. And I think both men and women hold women to high standards. It does not help either when you go shopping and the sizes go from a double 0 to a 9 and you get stressed hoping you can get into something. What ever happened to a size 6 being a normal size?

TonyTrinch

I think it's an artifact of the past to believe there's different pressure on men and women to maintain a certain body type. I think the difference is in what body type the pressure is out there to maintain, that part I believe is true, but I don't think it's true anymore that men are "allowed" to get away with the Archie Bunker body type and still be considered attractive.

I do; however, think this is a more recent development and that women have had to maintain a thin and toned body type far longer than has been expected of from men, but at least since the 80's the expectation from a male to maintain a cut, low fat body type has been the reality.

An interesting little fact, and sorry, no, I don't have a link handy to any studies on this, but here are tons you can find online, male anorexia and bulemia are most definately on the rise over the last ten years.

Someone else posted a topic about more men needing to post shirtless pics on their profiles and more women needed bikini pics and I can definately tell you, as a male, ain't gonna be no shirtless pics from this guy until I'm right at my goal weight and have done some toning up on my stomach, and that's definately due to my body image issues.

N_BEAST_MODE_24_7

No offense to all you men out there but why is it that if a guy is fat no one cares? but if a woman is fat, she is judged, made fun of, and automatically written off as disgusting and stupid.

im not terribly overweight by any means, but i get rude comments about being fat all the time. if there were a man with my exact body type people would think he is slender.

.... this just frustrates me.

That's just your opinion...females on my job call out some guys and tell them they are fat, and we military! Females just always have a problem with weight, its all in your head. I can meet a very attractive female that's slim and ask her weight and get the funny face like..you know I can't tell you that.....my recommendation is for you to do something about it, and when you do and you at the weight you enjoy...how are you going to feel when someone else says something about your weight???? Be happy with yourself and stop worrying about what someone else says or think about you, you are not going to plz everyone, but you can plz yourself!

ShaneT99

all fat people are judged.

This.

♥MyCrazyBeautifulLife

You make a very valid point!Look at the men in Hollywood they can be a heavy and have successful careers but women?how many heavy actresses have a good career?few,very few.
It's not fair.
Unfortunately,that's the world we live in.

kyodi

Growing up overweight and being overweight still I can speak from personal experience. I'm a male that has been made fun of by both sexes. I have to agree with others; the same sex comments are the worst. My wife and female friends have said that girls are way harsh on each other, and again from personal experience guys are real !@#&s some times.

Katherine_Nelson

I don't think it matters whether you are a man or a woman.... Somebody calls you something uncomplimentary and it is gonna hurt.

I got called Fat#$$, Porky etc when I was obese... that's part of what drove me to lose weight and get fit.

I'm still afraid to go without a shirt... and I've lost almost 100 lbs and can run a half marathon.

Poor self image affects us all regardless of gender.

I think my point is being missed here. I know guys get picked on too. But not for being slightly overwieght like girls do

KickassYas

yeah i don't think its gender specific. i think its a matter of what we experience. since i'm not a man, i don't know exactly what a fat man goes through but i sure as hell know what a fat woman experiences.

I can't say whether one gender has it harder than the other but i have had male friends who are/were obese and they had it really hard. they had low self esteems alot of self loathing they stopped taking care of themselves because of the hopelessness they felt. some of the saddest people i know are overweight men.

i would never presume i have it worse than them.

Ben2118

I would take a nasty comment over the "you don't exist, I cannot see you" stare any day, speaking from experience women are a lot more polite vocally towards men, but your eyes do not lie.....

Ben.

bmontgomery87

I'm still holding my ground.
We have it just as hard.

J-lo was voted hottest woman in the world. Her body wouldn't be that hard to attain.



Ryan Reynolds was voted sexiest man alive a while back. Good luck achieving this:



Not to mention we have to work twice as hard because we can't cover up our imperfections with make-up.

ashahl

You think J LO's body wouldn't be hard to attain! Omg seriously. She is a perfect combination of toned muscle and fat. Plus it's where her weight naturally distributes. No matter how hard I try I will NEVER have an *kitten* like that.

6Janelle13

^ funny thing is I noticed his face and eyes. and I agree J-lo looks athletic and if debate the challenges of getting ripped... guys have it worse.

Eskimopie

We live in a sexist society where a woman's worth is based on her looks. A man, even if not conventionally attractive, is expected to have other qualities that make him worthwhile as a human being. Humor, intelligence, etc. So even if life isn't great for an overweight man, it doesn't compare to one as an overweight woman.

Look at commercials, virtually every diet food product, yogurt, etc. are marketed at women. Fast food is marketed toward men. Women are expected to be thin if they want to be loved. Sad...

bmontgomery87

You think J LO's body wouldn't be hard to attain! Omg seriously. She is a perfect combination of toned muscle and fat. Plus it's where her weight naturally distributes. No matter how hard I try I will NEVER have an *kitten* like that.

I gotta say she's not even remotely toned in my opinion.
She just has a reasonable bodyfat percentage.

I get that you can't look exactly like her, because her *kitten* is a work of art.
But I'm saying it takes a lot more hard work to end up like Ryan Reynolds than it does J-Lo. Fat loss is easy. Building muscle and being under 12 percent bodyfat isn't.

ashahl

That's not hard to achieve?

Neliel

Even if women are toned and slender, they will still see imperfections in themselves. Something I notice first in a girl is how facially pretty she is. So she can have the most perfect body going and still be fugly. Same goes for guys. I suppose we just have to make the most with what we have.

Eskimopie

I'm still holding my ground.
We have it just as hard.

J-lo was voted hottest woman in the world. Her body wouldn't be that hard to attain.



Ryan Reynolds was voted sexiest man alive a while back. Good luck achieving this:





Not to mention we have to work twice as hard because we can't cover up our imperfections with make-up.

Woman also have to spend thousands of dollars a year, on haircuts and makeup if we want to look presentable, at our jobs, in our social lives. Men can roll in in a button down and slacks right out of the shower. I'm not sure thats working harder.

And no, I will never have JLo's *kitten* and tiny waist no matter what I do. And how many girls get made fun of for being skinny fat, too muscular, too thin, too fat...its a very fine line between thin and toned we are expected to walk.