In today’s world where a large number of individuals, especially children and teenagers, are greatly influenced by models, celebrities, and other “influencers”, people are prone to the pressure of looking a certain way, and it’s not just girls.

  A common misconception regarding the pressure to keep up a specific body image is that it directly affects just girls. However, it’s not surprising that many believe that it doesn’t really matter to guys. There are instances where guys don’t feel like it’s okay to show that they are affected by it as well because of the long lived stereotype of guys being these strong, tough individuals who show little to no emotion.

  Amidst the virtually countless influencers on different social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, as well as TikTok, are those bodybuilders, male models, along with all sorts of athletes. Many of these individuals have a more athletic body build, large muscles, very healthy skin, and they are practically perfect in terms of other features such as their hair, as well as others.

  According to info from ScienceDirect in 2022, approximately 30%-40% of guys are anxious about their body weight. While the range may seem somewhat low, it was also reported that up to 85% of guys are dissatisfied with the amount of muscle they have.

  The pressure of guys feeling required to replicate what they see from influencers as they scroll through social media not only heavily affects their mental health, especially when they can’t achieve their goals, but it increases risk of disordered eating habits, muscle dysmorphia, and being addicted to exercising, which can lead to serious injury.

  At the end of the day, it’s important for everybody to maintain a healthy living standard, and that includes guys. However, teenagers should understand that not every guy is going to be the world’s heavyweight lifting champion, and not every guy is going to be in every action movie and fitness magazine. Teenagers should not feel forced to keep up with such a high standard, but rather, they should just focus on having a healthy lifestyle. Physical health is beyond one of the most important aspects in one’s life, but the media influences individuals to take it to the next level.