Is it Wrong to Body Shame a Man Under Any Circumstances?

Women are expected to endure insults without ever retaliating

Walter Rhein
Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs
5 min readSep 26, 2024

--

A cartoon image depicting a bald man with a mustache pointing at a girl. He’s saying, “You’re unattractive, you’re overweight, you don’t meet my expectations.” The girl is thinking, “I’m not allowed to respond.” The caption in the corner reads, “The reality of body shaming.”
Image by Walter Rhein

My daughters push themselves to excel in sports. In part, I’m pleased that they actively pursue a healthy lifestyle. However, I’m also concerned they might be motivated by pressures to meet an unattainable standard of beauty.

Cultural expectations that establish an impossible physical ideal for women have been connected to such things as eating disorders and depression. Women tend to have lower body esteem than men. Our social fixation on beauty is not healthy. What’s even more frustrating is that this all appears to be a social construct that we have the power to change.

As a father and a husband, I find myself contemplating the actions I can take to make a positive impact. I don’t like seeing my children diminished, and that treatment is reflected in the overall objectification of women in our society.

I suspect that one of the reasons that body shaming remains an issue is that men are largely insulated from its effects. Perhaps if more men felt the embarrassment of body shaming, there would be less of an inclination to make a mockery of feelings.

The constant double standard

--

--

Walter Rhein
Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs

Certified English and physics teacher. Editor, journalist, illustrator and novelist. https://walterrhein.substack.com/