While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, our world has taught populations to view and judge the human form with a critical eye. As a result, few people feel comfortable in their skin. Either they want bigger muscles and a curvier figure, or they’re obsessed with fitting in a size 0 and being able to wrap their fingers around their wrist. No standard is ever enough, and this is only made worse by the diverse ideals promoted by advertising agencies and pop culture.
It’s kind of like what comedian Tina Fey said:
“But I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty. Girls wanted butts now. Men were free to admit that they had always enjoyed them. And then, what felt like moments later, boom—Beyoncé brought the leg meat. A back porch and thick muscular legs were now widely admired. And from that day forward, women embraced their diversity and realized that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. Ah ha ha. No. I’m totally messing with you. All Beyonce and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful. Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.”
And, though women are often believed to be the main victims of manipulative media, men are also pressured to achieve society’s vision of the ‘perfect’ body – whatever that is.
To prove this point, four gentlemen behind The Try Guys (Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer Eugene Lee Yang, and Zach Kornfeld) decided to seek professional help in re-creating four famous male celebrity photos. The entire experiment was documented for the benefit of viewers, and it is definitely eye-opening.
While opening up about their insecurities and perceived flaws, the men are able to understand how they really feel about their bodies. More than once, the guys mention that they’re afraid the photoshopped image will shame them into feeling bad about themselves. But near the end, they discover that their bodies aren’t the real issue, rather their thoughts toward their physical form lead them to believe they’re not enough.
The truth is, everyone is beautiful in their own way. However, until one learns to love themselves unconditionally and accept the shortcomings and strengths they were born with, they will NEVER feel happy being who they are.
The good news is you have a choice to make, and you can choose to either love and appreciate yourself today, or wait until a circumstance down the road forces you to. Don’t waste your life seeking validation from others.
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This article (Four Men Get Photoshopped To Achieve Their ‘Ideal’ Body Shapes, But The Results Aren’t What You’d Think) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com
