Bodily Disorders

Women are not the only ones that have to worry about having bodily disorders. The media focuses in on women more than men, but men face severe bodily disorders as well. The media feeds society that there is a perfect way to look or a perfect weight for a certain height that men and women should obtain or maintain. While women normally worry about body weight, men focus in on their muscle size sometimes. Castle and Phillips say, “Men with body dysmorphic disorder are most commonly preoccupied with their skin, hair, nose, and genitals. Nearly all mean with body dysmorphic disorder perform repetitive and time-consuming behaviors in an attempt to examine, fix, or hide the defect.” (Castle & Phillips, 2001) This leads me to my next point. Men with this disease that focuses in on their muscles work out constantly. While working out they also take dangerous drugs to boost the results. Steroids are a drug that people sometime over look, but it is a dangerous and addicting drug if used too much. It is dangerous because there are side effects that can harm the human body. Liver damage and failure is the most common. I know all of this because I took a physical education class that focused in on steroids and sports. It can be especially addicting to people with this disorder. They are going to repeatedly workout and take this drug in an attempt to stop being small. In all reality no matter how big they get they will still look in the mirror and see themselves as being a small person. The media doesn’t touch on men having disorders because in society a man is supposed to be strong and under control, especially of himself. I also found this article that talks about media and its effect on body image. Here is a question to think about, “Many of us have the phrase, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but do we know who the beholder really is?” (Manasia, 2011)

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 Effects of Media

References

Castle, D., & Phillips, K. (2001). Body dysmorphic disorder in men. BMJ, 323, 1015. Retrieved from 

https://colstate.view.usg.edu/webct/urw/tp0.1c21194011/

Manasia, T. "Health Psychology." Effects of Media on Body Image. Vanderbilt University, n.d. Web.  3 Dec 2011. <http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/media_and_body_image.htm>.