A young man is influenced by a world of media where no one’s fat, ugly, or has bad skin. So he goes into this world and tries to meet its expectations, slowly starving himself until he’s unrecognizable.
For years, anorexia has been associated with young women, but with new times come new victims. People are unaware of hidden statistics of anorexic men because men are less likely to seek help, according to an article in the Daily Nightly.
Because anorexia is typically a woman’s illness, men are ashamed to admit they have an eating disorder out of fear of being made fun of. Some aren’t even aware they have a problem because the subject is so unrecognized, even treatment resources are geared towards young women.
When it comes to anorexic men, they too are affected by media’s ridiculous vision of what they should look like, and surveys like these can’t be helping. They start off easy and in control, but not unlike drugs, once you’re in it, it’s easy to lose it.
What is so scary about this is that it can lead to young anorexic men becoming even sicker than girls with the same problem. When they finally get the help they need they’re usually far more physically and mentally ill.
The fact is, men care about their appearance at least as much as we women do, even if you wouldn’t think so. Men aren’t really being questioned about possible weight issues the same way women are. Are they?
We see magazine covers in the checkout line at the grocery store telling us how to lose weight. Apparently we all need to look like the glamorous skinny supermodels and celebrities in the photos.
As if you’ll magically turn into a photo shopped Abercrombie and Fitch or Victoria’s Secret model just by eating nothing but celery for a month? Allow me to raise my eyebrows.
Yes, models and celebrities set the bar for us, but is this the only reason young men and women feel the need to starve themselves?
Studies show skinny people are more likely to be hired when applying for a job, compared to a person who’s overweight. A survey was taken from 2000 human resources departments that showed “more than 90 percent of bosses admitted that when they get an overweight and a slim candidate of the same ability, they are more likely to hire the worker of ‘normal’ size.”
Isn’t it ironic how skinny people are the ones who are socially accepted when there is a growing portion of people suffering from obesity?
“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,” supermodel Kate Moss said during an interview in 2009 encouraging millions of fans not to eat, letting us all know what has worked for her.
The skinnier they get the worse they feel, look and function without realizing when it’s gone too far. We, girls and boys, men and women, are being so affected by the media that when we hear something like this coming from a famous model, we tend to listen.
