WHEN WILL PEOPLE FUCKING REALIZE THAT
MEN
ALSO
ARE
GIVEN
UNREALISTIC
EXPECTATIONS
DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA
HOW IMPOSSIBLE IT IS
TO LOOK LIKE THIS???
IT’S 100% FUCKING ILLOGICAL TO EXPECT MEN TO HAVE THIS RIPPED SIX-PACK ABS AND BE SKINNY AND HAVE PERFECT SKIN AND FACIAL COMPLEXION! MEN ALSO EXPERIENCE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE WITH OUR BODIES ALL. THE. FUCKING. TIME.
I’m bringing back the REAL post. For those of you who care enough about how body image issues effect BOTH MEN AND WOMEN and how ignoring men with eating disorders or who have depression or deep insecurities because of their body image is not just ignorant, but it’s horribly insulting. Making fun of this post means you are telling men who feel degraded that they should feel bad about themselves and that they don’t mean anything. For everyone who reblogged the posts that made fun of this original post, shame on you. I’m very disappointed. Please share the original because this is an important issue.
Also raised to my attention is I neglected to add people of color to this post, I am sorry for my negligence so I shall add bonus images here of unrealistic expectations for men of every race, I chose Men’s Health Magazine because it’s extremely popular in telling men how to look:
No, guys, you don’t understand. I just got so relieved seeing this original post again that I nearly cried.
Bless the blog that brought the original back!
Here’s the original post without some of you asshats changing the pictures
This is actually the VERY FIRST TIME I’ve seen the original post, which goes to show how quickly people turned it into a joke. I confess that I did laugh at some of the absurd replacement images in the other versions, and I feel guilty for that now because I, like many, was missing an extremely important message.
To all of my male followers who struggle with self-esteem: I support you too. Even though I’m really quiet and have a bad habit of going weeks or months without posting, I WILL be there for you if you come to me wanting to talk or just vent. That’s a promise.
Another thing to note that in all, ALL, of those pictures the men are actively flexing. And often such defenition for shoots is exaggerated by dehydration, airbrushing and photoshopping. That chiseled look isn’t a look you can acheive at rest without literal implants. Here are 2 examples of flexed vs relaxed:
And you know what? Dollars to doughnuts none of the above muscular looking guys are as strong as these men:
These are strongmen. These are the bodies of men that train for strength, not defenition. These guys can practically lift cars and drag trains.
So men of the world that get depressed about not looking like you just stepped off a magazine cover, relax. You don’t have to look like that. You are handsome, beautiful and fantastic the way you are.
To all my beautiful boys <3 Please read and heed. You’re amazing, and you don’t have to look any particular way. This goes for transboys too. You’re handsome no matter what!!!
This is so important!! Like my dad looks fat but he’s mostly super strong
its posts like this that make me wanna keep on living and still feel a little good about myself
6 pack abs are out, viking/barbarian bodies are in
I don’t think I’ve seen the bad version of this post ever
a lot of ridiculing how ‘fragile’ and ‘sensitive’ men are for daring to complain about the double standard. further going to say that all men who dont look like the hot models just aren’t trying, that a man getting that figure isnt as difficult as a woman getting to be a ‘size 2′ eccetera that men arent supposed to feel self concious when media has a binary of either extremely high standard hot guys with no body hair, extremely lean chiseled muscles you only get from being deeply dehydrated combined with camera tricks; or fat schlubs who should be publicly ridiculed for daring to have body hair and their poor life choice of balding. those are the only two options to be a man… oh, and pencil necked nerd who somehow gets ridiculed for ugly AND for being thin AND ridiculed for being smart under the assumption any intelligence will only be used in antisocial misogynist ways note how rarely you see body hair on men in media unless theyre hugh jackman, not even in the list of ‘this is what real men look like’ replies above, its that stigmatized. not even homer simpson, shrek, or peter griffin have body hair and their intended design was supposed to be unattractive, giving them body hair would push it too far into unlikable. a thing that real men have no control over and just happens because testosterone exists is considered too grossly cartoonishly unattractive for shrek
the litmus test here would be ‘if you swapped the gender pronouns does it sound bad’? would it be okay to ridicule women for being upset that media is only full of very thin post-plastic-surgery models with 24 inch waists and impeccable hair? weve as a society largely agreed that needs to stop for the last 20 years and somehow the problem still clings to life in the executive offices who decide who gets cast as what.
would it be okay to treat women the way men are in the situation ive outlined? specifically making fun of them for having body hair, balding, having a double chin- and not just making fun of it but in whatever media this is featured in clearly state that making fun of them is publicly acceptable for even perfect strangers and in any social setting as media clearly says ‘lets all announce loudly to the bald hairy man that his life is depressing cruel irony as if he didnt already know’ the sentiment here is that if a child calls a woman ugly everyone gasps and hurries to scold them for how unacceptable that is, and yes thats very rude and people should teach children to not do that. however a child calls a man ugly instead of scolding the child we all go ‘yeah hes a repugnant goblin’, join in with laughing, then scold the man for feeling hurt
Telling anyone they need to look a certain way to have value is bad. Absolutely agree.
The difference is that the body goal for men is to be strong, while the body goal for women is to be weak.
Both can be bad for mentally, but one is much worse physically.
ALSO!!!!!! don’t forget that gay culture perpetuates body and beauty standards. Even Bear culture which was started to celebrate larger men has become elitist based on the type of body type you have.
When I found out “Thicc” dudes and guys with dad bods were being celebrated, I got really excited, but I realized all they meant were the same buff guys plus about 20 pounds.
It doesn’t matter who you are, there are always going to be unrealistic standards. And REGARDLESS of how you look you deserve to be treated with RESPECT.
Respectfully,
I fully agree that men are given standards of physical attainment that are difficult to meet and can be a lot for some people. Shaming works to both sexes absolutely
That said, these aren’t unattainable. I know because I’ve seen me attain them and I’m 50 years old. It takes diet and exercise disciple but it’s not some unrealistic pie in the sky standard. Actually the strong men are the most unattainable. You can’t be a strong man without amazing genetics and a truckload of hormones. And then add in a work ethic where all you do Is work train and eat.
I’m sorry guys I’d never say anyone has to look any certain way but if you say this is unrealistic or unattainable you’re simply incorrect. It ain’t easy but it’s not insane or impossible either
Posting to my main blog as well for more discussion
