Walk like a man, talk like a man …

Two weeks ago I asked, “What’s it like to be a man?” Statistics tell us that women undergo more plastic surgery and are more likely to suffer from eating disorders than men are. In general, body image disorders are associated with women due to the huge focus that is placed upon us to look a certain way. So what about the pressures associated with being a man? Sometimes I wonder if there are any at all. I asked, you answered. Here is the gist of the majority of your responses.

From Jason M.

On the topic of men in the gym and going to the gym, I for one would like to say I’m very self-conscious about myself. I try to go every day if I can but sometimes only go five days a week. I really don’t care too much about what I wear as long as it’s clean. I do compare myself to the other people in (the gym), but I can usually justify anything to myself. I am in pretty good shape so when I see a guy who’s a lot bigger than I am struggling to do the same or less weight than I just did with ease, I kind of think it’s funny, but I don’t say anything. And when I see someone a lot bigger than I am who all the girls are checking out, it does make me self-conscious, but I know if I took steroids then I could look like that too, and that’s not what I’m all about. I’d rather have a nice cut body and not be so huge. And I appreciate the girls who go to the gym and care about how they look, and I’d like to tell them they look nice but don’t want them to think I’m always hitting on them and make them not want to go work out.

From anonymous:

I can’t speak for all men, but I’m a student at USF and am constantly self-conscious about my body. Today’s man must have everything material and find the time to fit (into) those tight shirts that guys wear. I try to work out but just can’t find the time. Everywhere I look it seems that the guys with the pecs get the booty. Women today expect abs, pecs, broad shoulders and the whole package. I mean the whole package.

Men and women do have one thing in common — we both think that bigger is better. Women think that having big breasts gives them more confidence and that bigger breasts make life easier, and big breasts somehow increase the quality of their love life.

Men think that having a big penis is somehow related to how much of a man they are. Having the equipment to really please women is a serious issue that makes guys self-conscious. The size of their package is important. Many don’t want to admit it, but we constantly think about how we can make our genitals larger. Men are uncomfortable talking about their size because, face it, you can’t see anything unless you’re not wearing your pants. Unlike women, men have trouble talking about their insecurities; I know I do. Women talk about their breasts more openly on issues of size, cancer, hygiene and lots more, I guess, because they can’t hide them.

When it comes to men, it seems that if you asked every guy on campus, most all would say that they were packing heat under those pants. Yeah, right. Have you watched regular late-night TV lately? There are now tons of infomercials trying to get guys to believe that women want bigger penises. These programs are trying to get people to believe that taking a pill will increase their penis size and that having a big penis is associated with confidence. Can you imagine what this thought process is doing to little boys growing up thinking that they need to grow more? Many men just don’t know what woman want. Many men watch way too much porn and think if they have a larger member, then women will want them.