When It Comes To Body Image Issues, We Are All In This Together
CHICAGO (CBS) -- My arms are flabby ..
These jeans make me look fat ...
I am trying a low-carb diet ...
It would be a stereotype to attribute these feelings only to women.
It would be scientifically wrong as well, at least according to new research into male body image.
Men, the researchers found, have the same worries as women.
For example, more than 40 percent of men studied said they were unhappy with their weight.
David Frederick and Jamal Essayli studied surveys from more than 115,000 gay and heterosexual men.
While gay men reported lower body satisfaction than heterosexual males, the researchers said the differences were generally small.
A total of 29 percent of gay men said they were dissatisfied with their physical appearance, compared with 21 percent of heterosexuals.
However, those who said they were not happy with their weight narrowed: 44 percent for gay men, 39 percent for straight males.
"The bigger story is just how big an effect body image has on men's lives and how it's affecting more men than people typically recognize," Frederick told the Chicago Tribune's Heidi Stevens.
The study, Male Body Image: The Roles of Sexual Orientation and Body Mass Index Across Five National U.S. Studies, was published in Psychology of Men & Masculinity