“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
We all, some time or the other in our lives, go through moments of insecurities and self-doubt. Be it that little extra fat around our belly or that scary pang while addressing a crowd, it happens and there is nothing wrong in accepting that fact, I swear.
GIF courtesy of tumblr.com
But generally due to societal pressure, women are considered to have more moments of self-doubts than men. Like we are constructed from the very beginning to feel this way and even if we don’t, our peers or society force us into that state of mind.
But ladies, I totally feel you and this recent study by Body Image shows how men are equally conscious about their looks and appearance and gentlemen, feeling this way is definitely not a crime.
This study examined 12,176 adult men and women by giving them online surveys about their personal feelings on body image, particularly paying attention to weight and physical appearance.
The results were actually surprising – they showed that 15% of men were “very to extremely dissatisfied” with their weight, along with 20% of women. Such similar numbers are proof that men feel equally self-conscious, though their plight is just not discussed or recognised by society that often.
GIF Courtesy: giphy.com
The study next showed that in the case of appearance, only 6% of men reported being “very to extremely dissatisfied” with how they look, and only 9% of women, which I feel is a good fact that people are trying to accept themselves and only a small number of both the sexes feel dissatisfied about themselves, which can be solved with a little bit of confidence boost every now and then. After all, we all rise by lifting each other up right?
The most interesting part of the study for me was that researcher concluded that dissatisfied people had higher Neuroticism, more preoccupied and fearful attachment styles and spent more hours watching television. Comparatively, satisfied people had higher self-esteem, openness, extraversion and general life-satisfaction, which I feel shows the importance of accepting your true selves and being happy with that.
GIF courtesy of yourtango.com
Though we all would like to read more studies on this matter and would appreciate the question of men and their perception being treated equally normally as for women because at the end of the day, we all are fighting our personal battles deep down and support and acceptance from each other can be of real help.