We know women are affected by body image issues. But of course they’re not alone. Why would they be? Men are surrounded by taut bodies and rock-hard abs as much as women are surrounded by small hips and shrinking waistlines.
But the difference is mostly in one factor: women want to be smaller, men want to be bigger.
Bigorexia. Muscle dysmorphia. Call it what you will but the essence is this: when some men (women, too) in its grip look in the mirror they see a scrawny, lean physique that needs to be sculpted. And then sculpted some more. And even when they’ve got muscles bulging out of places you didn’t know muscled bulged, it’s never enough.
The biggest man mountain in the world won’t see what the rest of the world sees.
Insight on SBS featured a panel of young men, some not even 18 yet, on its ‘Massive Obsession’ show this week who were stuck in the cycle of muscle building, way beyond just ‘keeping fit’.
Just like women, men can’t turn to many places that don’t feature unrealistic – in many cases, impossible – images of bodies that ‘look better’. Like this:
See, it’s everywhere.
Anthony Nguyen is 14.
He started working out when he was 11 because he had the wrong body shape, he says.
“I started getting serious when I was 13 becuase of my body shape … the Asian race, they are really judgmental. They judge people’s sons a lot and say ‘oh, he’s so skinny’. So I started training and now I try and waste myself during those training sessions,” he says.
I want to be two or three times as big as I am now. Clean. [Not with steroids].”
Nathyn Costello, 34.
“When I was younger I saw a movie with Jean-Claude van Damme in it and I thought, I want to look like that. So that’s what I set about doing. That was everything I worked toward. I was about 13 at the time and I got this reputation as ‘the fit guy’ at school.
“I realise now I probably did, but back then I never thought I crossed a line. I took steroids. That was a long time ago. I stopped going out socially because I need to make sure I ate the right things. I needed to stick to my regime and I couldn’t do that when I was out to dinner. So I just didn’t go.
“I never took my shirt off unless I was below seven per cent body fat. You go to the gym and you see other guys who are bigger than you. It draws you in. Nowadays, I can say no to that. I still train but I do it for health and fitness, not looks.”
Anthony Farrah, 18.
“There’s no limit for me. I want to be a professional body builder one day. To me there is no limit. When I was 14 I was diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia. I lost all faith and motivation to live. When I got out of hospital I started training and it became a drug, I got hooked and it saved my life. It is my life now,” he says.
“Monday is chest and shoulders. Tuesday is legs. You can never be happy with body building. You can always excel. I wish everything was a lot bigger but particularly my legs. There’s no stopping it.
“Yeah, I enjoy eating. I enjoy the taste of success more than I enjoy the taste of any food. When I’m not training I’m distraught. I’ve been told a few times I’ve exchanged one obsession for another. But this is a healthy obsession.”
This is Farrah:
Dr Rocco Crino
Dr Crino is a clinical psychologist with the University of Western Sydney School of Psychology who treats people with body image disorders, including muscle dysmorphia.
“The perception of people with muscle dysmorphia is that they are not muscular enough. They are chasing a phantom look because when they look in the mirror they do not see themselves in a ‘normal’ manner. They do not see what is really there.
“We do not yet know what infrastructure within the brain makes this happen. We know it must be something that teams up with a number of personality factors. Things like obsession, perfectionism.
“I’ve seen cases where people go and have surgical procedures to fix the body part they view as weird or not right and the surgeon does do that … but then they blame the surgeon for doing nothing because to them it looks the same. Or, alternatively, they just transfer the obsession to a different part of their body.
“About one in 100 people have a type of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) of which muscle dysmorphia is one sub-set of that. But on a broader view, body dissatisfaction – which can be anything – accounts for some 90 to 100 per cent of the population. Many people just get on with it, others are more vulnerable and become obsessed.
“We need to be careful with how we attribute blame to the media because it needs to interact with a vulnerable individual. But yes, there is a percentage of people who can’t handle the images they see every day because they have self-esteem issues. And there are particular groups of people who are almost universally vulnerable, like adolescents.”
Do you identify with any of the body image issues in this post? What about your friends and family?
If you want to catch the fascinating episode of Insight, you can watch it online here or watch the next screening Friday, 8.30pm.
If you or a friend have concerns about body image, visit the Butterfly Foundation for more information or ring their support line 1800 334 673.
Top Comments
So NOW the guys are getting an idea of what we (women) have been putting up with for years (body pressures). Maybe now REAL changes will happen in the media.
It is not the guys who are the problem, it is media and advertising and us letting ourselves get sucked in.
"Maybe now REAL changes will happen in the media."
Delusional.
The 'media' is something many can live with, as something to largely ignore, and not wholly buy-into.
Some individuals cannot easily differentiate between real life and what is shown in moving images on a screen. This is an individual mental health issue.
I don't think this is a male vs female issue.
I think many males suffer body image issues as severely as women do and it is thrust upon everyone in the media to the same degree, but yes either way something needs to be done and a more realistic expectation needs to become the norm for the greater population.
As a personal trainer I heard a little yesterday about this program through Facebook and the like, so I made sure I went back and watched it when it was replayed.
A lot of trainers were up in arms about the take and angle of this program.
Muscle dysmorphia is obviously a clear condition for these and many other young men both here in Australia and abroad.
However this program simply piled people with this condition in with a whole heap of other gym users and active Australians and touted everyone who is dedicated to a training and eating regime as an addicted freak.
I think being active 6 days a week is something we all should strive for. Granted the 3 hours in the gym some of these young men were spending is probably a little excessive. For some it may be more a sign that they need help better formulating a more effective training plan.
I wonder would the same fuss of been made if these were young triathletes swimming, running a cycling for 3 hours a day 6 days a week as many of them would need to to be able to complete at a high level in their chosen sport? I think not.
I think this story did little for the fact that many Australia move far too little, exercise hardly ever and eat terribly.
This issue of Muscle dysmorphia is a serious one. The small population of young men with this serious problem should have been the focus of this program not anyone who maintains a serious regimented training plan.
It should have been used to shed light on this issue and helped get these young men help, particularly Farrah who seems to be moving from one unhealthy obsession to another, get the help they need.
Bundling anyone who trains six days a week into the freak basket sends the wrong message to inactive Australians.
Body building is not about getting healthy.
To be honest I would think it is great if someone is training hard for a triathlon or other sport. But to train for no purpose that other to look good seems like a total waste of time. You don't even need to train to be generally fit and healthy.
Sometimes it takes an extreme viewpoint of something for people to sit up and take notice.
I agree that it was presented from quite a one-sided angle, but if it has sparked debate about a serious issue, isn't that more important?
As someone who works in sport and as an Exercise Physiologist i agree with you - but also agree that 18 hours + a week in the gym can be the starting point of something worse.
Also not a fan of using Men's Fitness mags as examples MamaMia - they are about training, fitness and doing it smarter. Yes the cover is of a very fit bloke - but it is a fitness mag! Just my opinion, please dont jump on me!