VAC – Body image 101 for the guys

Since the 1980s there has been increasing use of the sexualised male body to sell an aspirational image — ‘look like this and have a better, happier life’. Objectifying male images have become prolific in marketing to gay men.

If you feel you don’t measure up to these idyllic images it can affect your body image and self-worth.

The media, however, is only one possible contributor to negative body image. Childhood teasing, schoolyard bullying, or constantly being compared to an ‘attractive’ sibling can lead someone to feel insecure about their appearance.

We can experience ‘episodes’ where our negative attitudes towards our looks can lead to discomfort or distress. Over time these experiences distort our belief system which in turn generates more negative body image thoughts.

If these become part of your core beliefs, you can imagine the thoughts that occur in situations like being in a locker room, going to a public pool, or going on a date or other situations where you feel your appearance is being judged.

As a result of negative body image episodes, you may avoid places, people (those who talk a lot about appearance, for instance), practices (dating, exercising, having sex with your partner) as ways to manage or avoid body image discomfort.

Trying to constantly fix a perceived flaw by spending hours grooming in order to look ‘just right’ to leave the house or constant mirror checks to ensure you still look OK are other methods used to manage negative appearance-related emotions. Though these actions may help avoid bad feelings, the obsessive, compulsive and avoidant nature of these strategies also reinforces the belief that your appearance is bad.

All these feelings, thoughts, beliefs and behaviours can be challenged and faced. There are strategies and therapeutic techniques to address all of these elements of negative body image. The VAC/GMHC is running a therapeutic group called Inside Out that does just that.

info: www.vicaids.asn.au or email [email protected] or call Grant on 03 9865 6700.

By GRANT O’SULLIVAN, VAC