A Review of Men's Body Image Literature: What We Know, and Need to Know

In the contemporary world, fashionable bodies are socially constructed in light of current idealized images. Media portrayal of such images can have negative health implications. This issue has long been problematic for women. Nowadays, men are subject to more scrutiny regarding their bodies, although male body image has been studied far less than female body image. In this position paper based on a review of the major studies that have been conducted on men and body image, we summarize the findings from these state-of-the-art studies that have been recently published in academic journals. Three themes related to male body image were extracted: socio-cultural ideals, masculinity, and minority men. This study adds to the literature I that it demonstrates that men experience and view their bodies differently from women, though some behaviors, such as disordered eating, are similar. Other behaviors, such as the drive for muscularity, are couched in the context of the social construction of gender and power. Most of the studies were done on white, heterosexual populations of young men, and nearly all used quantitative research methods. Little research has been conducted on ethnic and sexual minorities. We conclude with a discussion of what we need to know, and to that end, we suggest future avenues of research.