Men suffer from body shaming. They are mocked at how they look, talk, and behave. But their suffering might go unnoticed.
A user asked the forum, “What are some examples of body shaming towards men that go unnoticed?” Here are the top responses.
BODY HAIR
“Ability to grow body hair or having too much of it. Inability to grow a thick beard or having a beard. Almost every other dating profile I see has some type of caption, ‘extra points for beard and tattoos.'”
HAIR THINNING
“We know our hair is thinning. You dont have to keep mentioning it. Being bald is one of the few physical issues that, for some reason, people universally think is okay to make fun of.
I know I’m bald, and I don’t love being bald. I don’t need you pointing it out or making jokes about the glare coming off my head. But whenever anyone jokes about it, everyone else laughs too, and I have to choose whether to pretend to think it’s funny too or look like the bitter guy they assume all of us bald guys are.”
HEIGHT
“Making fun of men’s height, and if you are upset, people will say you are insecure.”
SKINNY GUY
A user said, “I’m a very skinny guy and have had many comments over the years about my weight, from suggesting I eat more, asking if I have a health condition, to telling me they think it looks terrible.
I feel as though skinny women are generally complimented on it, whereas, as a guy, you get nonchalantly body-shamed with comments that would be unacceptable to an overweight person. I’m 179cm and around 56 kilograms. That’s roughly 5ft 11 and 9 stone. That’s 1.10231 hundredweight for you Americans.”
Another added, “There’s also a lot of hate towards skinny, non-muscular men. Yeah, if you don’t look like a celebrity who probably used Photoshop, you’re a joke.”
SWEATING
“I feel like women are self-conscious about this too, but I see more shaming towards men.
You can wear heaps of deodorant and shower like a germaphobe, but your forehead still gets wet when it’s too warm, and the damp patches on your pits get called out as gross and disgusting.
Antiperspirant doesn’t always work, and you get called out for sweating more as a guy.”
BIG EARS
“I would say it’s things like unibrow or big ears, or hairy, general caveman attributes (which is still pretty common).”
NOT HAVING MUSCLES
“If you don’t have unrealistic superhero abs and muscles, you’re fat and a loser.”
TEETH
“As an American, teeth. If you’re not rocking, bleached straight teeth, you will be poorly talked about.”
LACK OF 6-PACKS
“Lack of a 6-pack. The fact is, very few men have 6-pack abs in real life because you have to have under 10% body fat to get the accented shape of the muscles. Yet social media and adult films and advertising make us believe all men have to show defined abs.”
STOMACH
“So many women I have talked to say a man with a gut is unattractive. I don’t mind how shallow some women can be because we all have stomachs.
As a trainer, my greatest success was helping a guy who had a heart attack and wanted to lose weight; he went from 398 lbs (pound) to 224 lbs when he trained with me. He told me he instantly became quite popular with so many girls, but he tells me he feels that when women see how he looked before, they think he was wearing a body suit to hide his muscles. If we do not body shame each other, we would all be happier.”
JOKES ON PRIVATE PARTS SIZE
“Jokes about male private parts are extremely prevalent.”
GYNAECOMASTIA
“Gynaecomastia. Men who have large breasts due to the increase of breast tissue from hormone imbalances are mocked and picked on. I believe it affects between 60-70% of men, but it’s a running joke against us.”
MAKE-UP
“Got a pimple and concealed it like any woman would? ‘Oh my God, a guy wearing make-up.'”
MUFFIN TOPS
“Muffin tops. I’ve heard men repeatedly get made fun of for them at the beach by younger girls. If women don’t want it to happen to them, they shouldn’t do it to us.”
BEING LABELLED AS A GAY
“Many aspects of a man’s life (behaviors, how they dress, what they care about) risk getting them labeled as gay. Even if the man is indeed gay, it doesn’t matter. This forces men to act a certain way, feel safe in certain situations or be accepted.
It’s 2023, and ‘gay’ is still used as an insult. I know many so-called ‘feminine men’ who have been with women and only women and married to a woman. This policing of gender norms and gender expression is terrible for men’s mental health. It forces many to wear masks and to pretend.
Some women also participate in this sad, toxic behavior by claiming that a man ‘must be gay’ if he doesn’t ‘accept her advances.’ Of course, some men do the same to women. All of this is fuel for toxic masculinity, which hurts everyone.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.