The Insta-Food Diet by Pixie Turner

Author:Pixie Turner [Turner, Pixie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788547208
Publisher: Head of Zeus

Disliking yourself is non-discriminatory

There is a common misconception that body dissatisfaction is purely a female issue, and while the conversation and research are definitely focused there, it is something that affects all genders.

Men may not have the same pressure to be thin but the lean body ideal still exists, and has become increasingly muscular over time (think Men’s Health cover, or Marvel superheroes). In fact, the ideal male body marketed to men is more muscular than the ideal male body marketed to women. In general, men overestimate the degree of muscularity that is attractive to women, and women overestimate the degree of thinness that is attractive to men. As a result, the images of men in men’s magazines are more muscular than those in women’s magazines.

The impact of ideal media images may be seen in the increasing prevalence of eating disorder symptoms, body dysmorphia, excessive exercise, and steroid use among men. A lot of the inspirational images of the ‘ideal’ man are very much in the realm of #fitspo – very lean and very muscular.

Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals are at a higher risk of mental health issues, such as depression, suicidal thoughts, self-injury, body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. The reasons for this are generally attributed to the huge discrimination and abuse to which these identities are exposed by the public at large, in the media, and often even by family members.

This is a group of people that is incredibly underrepresented in research, and while I couldn’t find any papers specifically on social media and TGNC folk, based on my own clinical practice and conversations with TGNC individuals I’d like to make some predictions. I can see the role of social media going two ways: either the community aspect of social media and seeing amazing TGNC bodies being unashamedly themselves could be a protective factor; or I could see the popularity of trans people who very much conform to gender stereotypes being an additional risk factor for body dissatisfaction. The main reason for the former scenario comes from the fact that social connectedness and support are known to be protective against depression and anxiety in TGNC folks and can help foster resilience to discrimination. The latter comes from knowledge of what society deems to be beautiful and acceptable for human bodies to look like.

Feminist scholars have long argued that women are taught to view their bodies as an outsider would, constantly considering how attractive their bodies are to a (male) observer. Any woman who’s ever walked down a busy street and been catcalled knows exactly what this ‘male gaze’ feels like. This gaze has an effect on women’s body image because they are encouraged to try and transform their bodies into something that fits what men find desirable, rather than what they actually want. This is known as ‘objectification theory’ – where women in particular are taught to see their bodies as objects for consumption. Objectification theory is supported by an abundance of research documenting the link between objectification

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