Societal pressures affect both men and women
A slightly overweight guy in a series of fun poses, flaunting his American Eagle underwear caught the attention of many. The #AerieMan campaign was launched by American Eagle on March 23, 2016, to promote body positivity for men. This was launched in accompaniment to the already popular #AerieReal campaign which promoted not retouching the Aerie female lingerie models.
After an outpouring of support for the campaign, however, American Eagle was forced to awkwardly admit that the whole thing had been an elaborate April Fools’ joke because their “male customers respond to humour.” In an attempt to backtrack, they proceeded to announce that they would no longer be retouching photos of male models either.
Body positivity is important for both men and women, but it has historically always been gendered towards women. Part of the reason for this could be attributed to the fact that women are more likely to be told that they are imperfect, whereas men hear that less often.
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The reality of the matter, however, is that both men and women are held to a high standard in our society. When you open a magazine, you are highly likely to see perfectly sculpted men and women which can lead anyone to feel negative about their appearance.
The “normal” size for a human body is defined by social standards. Yes, there are body shapes that may be prone to illness, but you could in fact be toned and athletic and still be unhealthy. Just the same, you could be “plus sized” and be perfectly healthy.
So, how do we effectively promote body positivity in a world where a photo can be shared a million times in a minute?
Body positivity isn’t about size or being society’s characterization of beauty; it’s about being happy at any size. The idealistic thing about the #AerieMan campaign was that all these men, of different shapes and sizes, appeared genuinely happy in the commercial.
Male body positivity is lacking in comparisons to women’s empowerment campaigns. Male models are usually very athletic which may make “average” men who perceive themselves as being too large or too small feel uncomfortable. Recently, a campaign did start to catch some momentum when IMG Models signed a six foot six, 40-inch waist male model. The signing of plus size male model Zack Miko is one of the first in the male model industry, which is slowly beginning to catch up with the curvier female models who are consistently more present in the fashion industry.
Men and women alike are taught from a young age that they should aspire to have a perfect body. It is not wrong to aspire for perfection, however, what is wrong is the human perception of what perfection is. A perfect body for you should be whatever makes you feel the most comfortable. So if you feel like you need to lose 10lbs, gain 10lbs, or just stay the way you are, it is what makes you happy that defines your perfection.