Toxic Masculinity in Nutrition: Targets of Diet Culture, Body Standards, and Stereotypes
By Gage Gruett
“Why are you so skinny?” A flippant remark usually made by a male authority figure in a young man’s life seems to be nothing more than just that: an insignificant remark. However, I would like to discuss a fictional boy named Timmy–an impressionable thirteen-year-old growing up in a suburban town near Durango, Colorado. Upon hearing his father’s remark on his body, he finds himself binging on unhealthy foods in the cafeteria to break away from his father’s description. Of course, his friends see these actions and attempt to intervene, but Timmy accounts for this by hanging around them less and eating in private. Eventually, Timmy successfully gains weight, yet his father’s maladaptive comments have now shifted to “You really should hit the gym, you know?” Crystallizing this positive feedback loop, Timmy now begins to hyper-obsess and fixate on counting his calories, going to the gym after every meal, and comparing himself to every other guy at his school–an unhealthy eating disorder more recently coined with the term orthorexia nervosa that proposes itself under the guise of routine and health and will be elaborated upon in this issue (Koven & Abry, 2015, p. 386). Now, let’s modify the previous vignette by telling you that Timmy actually never had a father, but rather, simply a nagging internal voice derivative of the systemic toxic masculinity, bravery, and strength expectations imposed upon men.
Although not the template for the male experience, many aspects of this story are likely relatable to most men reading this. Yet, the presence of eating disorders in men is too often dismissed due to modern stereotypes, male comorbidity, and a lack of proper treatment methods (Harvey & Robinson, 2003, p. 304). Framing my approach to these issues of diet culture, body standards, and stereotypes, I’d like to address each of these three areas of dismissal to provide a more comprehensive view of the major roadblocks that lead to eating disorders being so pervasive in male populations. Further, it would be remiss to not immediately qualify my previous statement by stating that women experience the same severity and widespread nature of eating disorders throughout their populations. Rather, my focus on male populations stems from the often more surreptitious nature of male eating disorders since men rarely express, let alone notice, that they have an eating disorder. Yet, men account for over a tenth of those struggling with anorexia and bulimia and over a fourth of those dealing with some form of binge eating disorder (Weltzin et al., 2005, p. 188). These percentages are clearly dire, so why does society consistently dismiss over three million men spanning adolescence to adulthood struggling with disordered eating?
To address why so little can answer the question above, we can begin with our first pertinent roadblock: toxic masculinity. The modern stereotype for men is that any form of reactivity, vulnerability, or emotion is generally shunned since men are, even in modern society, intended to be apathetic and pragmatic. Now, this concept has been well-discussed in modern research, but there is an ideological gap in its connection to eating behaviors and diet culture; the concepts are often mutually inclusive (Rotundi, 2020, p. 54). This toxic masculinity works on the front end since younger men are often pushed to strictly follow “healthy” protein diets that can lead to malnourishment and an excess of physical exercise which can lead to expressive suppression (aka bottling their emotions). However, I am more concerned with its work on the back end since once men develop these eating disorders, toxic masculinity’s notions of internalization and a de-emphasis of therapeutic recourse mean that these struggling men choose then not to reach out for help–an especially troubling thought when the suicidal ideation rate for male adolescents is over 45% (Patel et al., 2021, p. 78). Still, the subject of toxic masculinity is difficult in modern society since framing men as the victim is tricky from two standpoints: (1) they are the victim of their own system and (2) it often detracts from the struggles of the main victims in a patriarchal society. Still, I intend to establish a clear, coherent distinction between these two points by addressing that while they are victims of their own system, we can only move past this by working to destigmatize psychological support and outreach for men. Second, it is this same system of toxic masculinity that has disproportionately led to the struggle of so many women for equality, opportunity, and free expression, and thus, it is imperative to acknowledge that women face similar issues relating to toxic femininity; simply put, men are not victims within the patriarchal system, but rather, victims within the system of toxic masculinity as it relates to body standards.
Eating disorders within men frequently mask themselves under other comorbid mental health conditions which can either lead to their misdiagnosis or complete lack of treatment. When addressing the unique situation regarding men with eating disorders, it is integral to consider the likewise unique psychological/neurological state that men are in. Moreover, eating disorders are often anxiety-based and center around developing a sense of control, rather than simply trying to lose weight or become healthier. While they certainly might begin as such, they quickly become a source of hyper-fixation for those struggling with eating disorders which, paired with underlying anxiety conditions, can quickly develop them into a deleterious coping mechanism for all general forms of anxiety or stress. According to Pamela K. Keel, while media presented body images and personal goals to improving health standards are certainly imperative for the growing symptoms of eating disorders within men, ultimately, there are stronger correlations associated genetically with intrinsic personality traits such as perfectionism and OCD, forming a comorbid connection with the disordered eating habits themselves (Keel & Forney, 2013, p. 23). This is especially pertinent to men as there is likewise a strong relationship between testosterone levels and personality traits such as perfectionism and OCD being exacerbated, and thus, men—especially adolescents—face a significantly higher degree of testosterone levels throughout life which leads to these behaviors being worsened, thereby worsening eating disorders (Mathis et al., 2011, p. 397).
Nancy D. Berkman provides a unique perspective on accommodating these neural-wiring differences through a treatment lens by utilizing modern epidemiological advancements in medicine such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to combat depression symptoms and anxiolytics to lessen anxiety which can help lessen the underlying exacerbators for the eating disorder(s) (Berkman et al., 2006, p. 1). However, Kelly Vitousek—an author from the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawaii—proposes societal encouragement for men to reach out to psychologists or other people who have experienced eating disorders for help instead of practicing self-recovery, resilience, or overmedication (Vitousek et al., 1998, p. 414). However, for men in particular, this is especially difficult due to the sheer amount of stigmatization associated with men reaching out for help as being “weak” or “incapable” of helping themself as discussed in the previous paragraph. In reality, the personal decision to get better and persevere through an eating disorder is the correct first step, but can quickly devolve into unhealthy ways of persisting the eating disorder just in a different format such as with calorie counting (Vitousek et al., 1998, p. 415).
Overall, I want to revisit the three crucial elements of toxic masculinity and body standards and their subsequent propagation of male eating disorder cases: modern stereotypes, male comorbidity, and a lack of proper treatment methods. Ultimately, there might never be an exact solution to eating disorders within men on how to negate societal stigmatization and restructure perceptions. However, the revaluation of current psychological, societal, and cultural systems could drastically lower the widespread nature of these conditions. Specifically, with the continuation of public education, societal normalization, and interpersonal intervention, market societal adaptations against societal stigmatization will be made, and thus, there will likewise be major improvements in body images, positive resilience, healthy coping mechanisms, and encouragement for men to seek out help all around the globe.
Review Editor: Aria Eaddy
Design Editor: Monica Rashkov
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