'Manorexia': Thin Is In…For Guys, Too
Posted by anastasia on 09-25-2008
Back when I worked at Oxygen TV on a teen show called Trackers, we aired a POV-J (Point of View Journalist) segment about teen boy wrestlers and the insane rituals they go through to "make weight" — everything from running in warm clothes to actually purging after meals. In some circles, this purging behavior is called eating disordered. Still, guys doing radical stuff short term for a sport seems unhealthy but more temporary than guys having full blown eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Whenever we talk about the role of the media in eating disorders, we usually talk about its impact on girls — from the modeling shows, celebrities Mary Kate or Kate Moss to the recent criticism of "90210′s" younger female stars. But new research coming out of the UK and Australia reveals that "manorexia" or male eating disorders are a growing problem for young men — and not just jocks. From this BBC report:
One of Britain's leading eating disorder experts says as many as one in five young men are deeply unhappy with their body image.
Dr John Morgan said that for every man with an eating disorder there were 10 more who desperately wanted to change the way they looked.
"One in five young men have some degree of quite extreme distress," he said.
Dr Morgan said he had also seen a big rise in the number of men with anorexia and bulimia.
Dr Morgan, who runs the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders in Leeds, told the BBC's news programme for teenagers, Revealed, that men who were unhappy with their bodies would like to change them.
I know this has been an issue in the gay community for some time, but what's new is the awareness around this trend for younger heterosexual guys. So maybe as we criticize The CW for its stick thin actresses, we should also be critical of how teen guys are portrayed or the lack of realistic teen body types (female or male) in these high school dramas. Did anyone else notice that the returning "90210″ characters "Donna Martin" and "Brenda Walsh" look almost-heavy compared to their younger co-stars? Are you seeing or hearing teen guys talk more about this issue? Is it a theme that's popping up on any teen TV shows or in YA literature?
Categorized under: TV
September 25th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I did notice that Kelly (It's Kelly who's returned) looked a little heavy next to all of these kids. I said to my girlfriend that those kids – all of them – need to pack on some pounds. One of the girl's legs look like they're about to snap. Brenda doesn't really look heavy; she just looks old. She sort of has a zombie thing going on. But maybe that's because all of the kids on the show are actually children.
September 25th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
We just published an article on this exact topic called "Are You Manorexic?" on Teen Scene as part of our first-ever SEX issue. It's definitely a topic that should be discussed more so that young men get treatment rather than trying to hide it. Here's the link to the article we published: http://teenscenemag.com/real-life/body/are-you-manorexic.html
October 29th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Thanks for your posts. This is definitely a topic that needs more understanding on the part of our society. As with females who struggle with eating disorders, the long reaching affects of males who have eating disorders not only affect the person themselves but impact families, friends, and others. Pressures on males to achieve and be "masculine" are becoming increasingly demanding and are leading to many mental health issues including eating disorders. Help reduce the stigma. Eatig disorders affect males too and support is needed to assist males who want to get better.
http://www.alumni.ubc.ca/trekmagazine/18-summer2007/manorexia.php