Body Perception in Men

Running head:
Body Perception in men
[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees]
Author Note
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There have been decades of research plunged into the topic surrounding men and the
reality of their bodies versus the feelings they build up due to idealized body images that are
showcased in the media. Howver, though the research has existed for decades, much
concentration concerning this topic has received much attention in regard to the women. This
takes of the necessity of considering the men and the issues they face in body image acceptance
and even more so, the perception they have towards it. This result to most of the research being
dormant and most being incomplete. However, men are part of the society and equivalently share
some of the issues that may seem more pressing to the women than they are to men. Lack of
attention to such issues only derails the process of finding lasting solution and helping more men
accept and understand their bodies that may lead to psychological and health problems that the
men may face. This may result after exposure of idealized images by the media and active
exploitation of the ones without seemingly ideal bodies. This article seeks to look into how this
problem came about, how long it has existed, the persons it has affected and the effect such state
of mind has to individuals, society and the development at large. Finally, it will look into the
measures taken so far to create awareness of the problem, provide necessary required assistance
and also recommended some working changes that will work towards improving the perception
of men in regards to their bodies.
RESEARCH QUESTION
There are many unanswered questions regarding the issues surrounding the men’s
perception of their bodies and the media’s portrayal of an ideal image. There are also issues
cropping up in regards to how the issues affect their daily lives, future ventures and even the

current and future relationships within the society. Therefore, this research will seek to shed
more light into the situation from its origin, the current status and how future key choices can
positively or negatively affect the men, society, career fields and also relationships between
friends and even more so companions. The article will seek to answer the questions of:
 How dependent are the men on the media’s coverage of the ideal image of the
body?
 What the men think of the idealized body images and how the idealized images
reshape their attitudes towards their own bodies.
OBJECTIVES
Main Objective
To investigate the extent of the negative effects of poor body image perception in terms
of how the victims’ self-esteem and acceptance.
Specific Objectives
1. To investigate on the media’s contribution to the current situation of the unsolved
problem.
2. To investigate the current stereotypes on the idealized body images and also the
reality of the most prevalent present body type images
3. To investigate how society contributes towards the negative body images
INTRODUCTION
Though commonly more identified with women, men also face body image issues. This
is due to societal influences and also individual thoughts from the men concerning their own
bodies based on personality, their version of ideal bodies and also opinions of friends, family,

colleagues or even perfect strangers and individual organizations. All these aspects influence
how the men may see their hair, the length of their hair and the color of their hair as well. It also
may influence their perception of the body fart, the way they look in clothes and, on the mirror,
the muscles they may or may not have and what their think their bodies are versus what they
believe they should be. There are many contributors towards perception and heavy on that is the
media. There is a tendency for society to believe that the media presents facts that are the truth of
what is accepted and also happening in the society. Therefore, the views presented by the media
tend to be taken as the truth that the society need to be made aware of and this influences the
actions that the audience takes and also the opinions they have and those that they interact with
on a daily basis.
The media tends to draw a large audience and therefore they have the platform to
influence their ideas through means such as advertisements, TV shows, movies and even through
radio shows amongst others. This is through suggestive talks or even commonly more so the use
of models who have a certain look that isn’t identifiable with the majority population of men.
Thus, there is more pressure inflicted by society and self to work through all means to achieve
the ideal body image and also there is a stigma held around those that cannot meet the ideal body
type. Degrading those men that seemingly look a certain type of way that is taken as perfect
holds the ones in those body mages to have a negative reflection of themselves and those of
others and more to that, it affects many social aspects of their lives. Therefore, there is need to
look into the role of the media in regards to their body perception and also type of effects it has
and some of the proposed solutions that can be availed to resolve the issues.