Body Image Isn't Just About Women

Look at this man:

For those of you who don't know, this is Major League Baseball player Prince Fielder. He plays for the Texas Rangers, and is currently being fat shamed and attacked for his photo in this year's ESPN Magazine Body Issue.

People are taking to Twitter and other social media outlets to bash Fielder, saying things like "he's fat" "he's out of shape" "he's injured often" "I thought the body issue was supposed to show hot bods" "he doesn't deserve to be in this issue" and other hateful things. Just go on Twitter and search his name. It's really disheartening the nasty, negative things people are saying.

Granted, there are some people out there who are praising him for being healthy and not some "carved-up freak". His body is realistic. He doesn't have a six-pack, but he does have muscle, and he works out every day. I mean, HELLOOO he's an MLB player! He's successful, and people are jealous.

Props to him for being proud of who he is and his body. He was asked to be in this special issue and accepted.

I think the reason this is becoming a huge deal and attracting so much attention is because he's a man. We see almost every day women being chastised for their bodies and whether they're too fat or too skinny or not toned enough. And while recently women have been fighting back, and plus sized models have been gaining more positive attention, it's rare to see men being attacked. They tend to be praised or just ignored by the media (unless their body does a total 180, then people are like WTF?).


I fear that men, particularly young boys, are going to start falling into the body image pit with women. I know that it does happen, and it has been happening for years, but I think now more than ever people are obsessed with their bodies. I see more and more young boys popping up at my gym (and others too I'm sure) trying to bulk up before they've even hit puberty! This is not healthy. Lifting weights more than they weigh is only going to stunt their growth or at least hinder the growing process. Young people should be healthy, obesity is an epidemic that is dominating America, but hitting the gym isn't where they need to be. They need to be playing sports or games, being active and social. Not blasting music in their ears, ignoring everything around them, and pumping iron. I don't ever remember boys in elementary or middle school being obsessed or needing six pack abs. We probably didn't even know what abs were!

I think the media, particularly advertising, has realized that the female market is already saturated and it's time to attack the male market. They want to squeeze out as many dollars as they can, from as many people as they can. And while the target audience has mainly been women, because it is assumed that women do more of the shopping or control the spending, women are starting to fight back against this; Which then leaves men. And with smartphones and the ability to look something up and purchase it almost instantly, men who don't typically have the patience for shopping, can do it much easier now.

Even if the cost is a person's self esteem or health, the bottom line is the dollar––and how much can be made.