Learning that body image issues aren't limited to girls and aren't always about being overweight.

I'm a 40ish year old man and always saw body image issues as something that happens to girls. All of the "very special episodes" of sitcoms that touched on body image were about girls trying to lose weight. Anorexia is portrayed in the media as a girly condition. People even talk about how unrealistic Barbie's body type is. Guess who else has unrealistic proportions? GI Joe.I'm not denying that there is extreme pressure for girls to be the perfect body type. My daughter is 9 and it's something we worry about as she gets older. But it's a problem with boys too. From movie stars to porn stars, tween and teen boys are given unrealistic standards to live up to. They hear what girls find attractive, much like girls hear what guys find attractive, and feel like they have to measure up.I watched 13 Reasons Why just in case my teenager was interested and the latest season touched on this with one of the characters using steroids and another character talking about how he was insecure about his body. Both were skinny guys.My oldest has struggled with body image issues since entering puberty and he's still trying to feel happy in his own skin. These last few years have taught me a lot about how the "ideal figure" isn't solely something we have to worry about with our daughters. Our boys are at risk too. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2HEaNwo