Yesterday, Jezebel ran a feature by noted feminist-ally Hugo Schwyzer that examined the degree to which men with body image issues are affected by the chiseled-ab and bulging bicep-ed images of maleness that are so pervasive in mainstream media. Schwyzer notes that recently there have been many public conversations about the prevalence of men facing body image issues ranging from self-loathing to Bulima and Anorexia Nervosa. Here in The Good Feed Blog I reported upon the rise in eating disorders among boys and men.
Along with those, GQ ran a breathtaking article by Amy Wallace about the meteoric rise of singer D’Angelo and his epic plummet into addiction and obesity after his super-sexy mostly-nude video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” brought more attention to his pecs than his pipes, and eventually led to an eating disorder.
As Schwyzer writes, “Feeling like crap about how you look isn’t just a lady problem.”
Schwyzer’s Jezebel article also features a critical examination of GMP’s Editor-in-Chief, Noah Brand, who posed stark naked for full-frontal photos in order to face the issue of body image head-on and break the taboo of male nudity:
The same week that both Stashko’s piece and the GQ story on D’Angelo’s struggle with an eating disorder appeared, the new editor-in-chief of the Good Men Project, Noah Brand posed fully nude in what he called “a direct confrontation with body shame.” Brand, who describes himself as “just over the line where ‘overweight’ turns into ‘obese’,” said the experience of going full frontal in his own magazine was “intensely liberating.” (Though GMP’s first nude editorial was a hit in terms of pageviews, reaction even among Brand’s own colleagues was mixed. The Good Men Project’s senior editor, Joanna Schroeder, told me in an email that while she thought Brand was “brave,” she herself chose not to look at the photos: “Noah is a smart, talented writer and editor… I don’t need to know anything else about him.”)
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad freeThough he refuses to go into the same detail as Stashko or D’Angelo about his struggles with food and self-image, Brand alludes to having done many things to his body “of self-hatred and shame and fear over the past decade or two.” But GMP’s top editor also sets up a false dichotomy: “If my options are being ashamed or being shameless,” he writes as a caption for the first nude image in the series, “I choose shameless.” Plenty of women and men who have experienced recovery from eating disorders could point out that exhibitionism is far from the only antidote to body shame. Indeed, by using the power of his editor-in-chief position to all but compel visitors not only to gaze at his nakedness but to validate his bravery (and perhaps, his enduring sexiness) Brand is responding to his own body issues in a classically male way: by throwing them in everyone’s face while insisting that he doesn’t care whether anyone else likes it or not. Yet whether or not the reader agrees that Brand is lightening his own emotional load at others’ expense, it’s clear that GMP’s chief sees posing nude as a viable strategy for overcoming self-loathing. “I honestly think more men should do this,” Brand writes.
To expand upon my own feelings regarding Noah’s nudity, I was glad Noah did the photos for the sake of men who’ve felt marginalized by the media’s portrayal of men as only two things: “hot, sexy and ripped” vs “imperfect and gross”. And as I told Schwyzer in my email regarding Noah’s photos, if our Editor-in-Chief sported a body like David Beckham or Ryan Gosling, I still wouldn’t have looked. But that is based solely upon my own ideas of intimacy in relationships, not a judgement upon his body or his intentions when publishing.
Schwyzer’s article raises really interesting questions about the ways in which men can overcome body shame, and raises some important points about when the big “moment” in our culture will arrive that will help empower men of all body types to feel proud and attractive.
What do you think of Schwyzer’s reaction to Noah Brand’s photos and essay? Do you agree that this wasn’t “the moment” for average men everywhere to find body acceptance? Or did was Noah’s pictorial revelational to you?
How did Noah’s piece, I’m Stark Naked: Deal With It, affect you?
Photo of a very muscular shirtless male courtesy of Shutterstock
“Indeed, by using the power of his editor-in-chief position to all but compel visitors not only to gaze at his nakedness but to validate his bravery (and perhaps, his enduring sexiness) Brand is responding to his own body issues in a classically male way: by throwing them in everyone’s face while insisting that he doesn’t care whether anyone else likes it or not. Yet whether or not the reader agrees that Brand is lightening his own emotional load at others’ expense, it’s clear that GMP’s chief sees posing nude as a viable strategy for overcoming self-loathing. “I honestly think more… Read more »
I’m not sure that feeling like crap about the way you look was ever just a lady problem. Boys have always been teased about their weight. I remember the 98 lb weakling, don’t let somebody kick sand in your face ads in comic books. Boys may have been more resistant to it because strength was also associated with utility and the ability to defend. Since money was also a measure of a ma’s utility, the message might have been diluted. With more women entering the workforce and able to support themselves financially, the strength as a matter of utility has… Read more »
What Noah did took ‘Balls’ (Pardon the pun). And Noah’s ‘revelation’, while I hope it helped him with his issues, did nothing for me personally. I’m old, fat and wrinkled and would rather’swallow a round’ than appear naked ANYWHERE.
What Chuck Ross just said. This kind of thing, usually done (or so claimed) for the sake of improving someone’s body image, is pretty routine for women. It fits into a context of women being perpetually on display, or feeling awful because they aren’t good enough to be displayed. Possibly putting oneself on show isn’t an effective way to deal with the problem–we’ll have to leave that to the individuals to decide–but when it’s a man with the same response to the same insecurity, I think he’s entitled to the same acceptance from the viewer. Hugo Schwyzer deals very badly… Read more »
Hugo Schwyzer deals very badly with body issues, and tends to accept female exhibitionism as entirely normal, while condemning men for doing the equivalent: it seems to me that he regards it as usurping female privilege. I think what Noah Brand is doing is raising the heretical suggestion that the male body may also be interesting to look at. It plainly makes some people uncomfortable. Which is kind of odd when you get down to it. I mean there’s a good number of women that were expressing pleasure at the sight of his body. If he wants to show it… Read more »
Is Hugo joking when he criticizes Noah for “throwing his body” in the viewers’ face – something which is supposedly a very masculine tactic? Feminists trying to reclaim their bodies do that all the time. Jezebel recently wrote about the Fatkini chick who has been praised for getting larger women to show off their bikini bodies. And Noah’s photo spread isn’t much different than the numerous pictures of pregnant or breastfeeding moms that have graced magazine covers over the years.
No, Hugo is serious. You could write an article about men helping homeless boys who have been victims of CSA and Hugo would find a way to demonize the men.
“How did Noah’s piece, I’m Stark Naked: Deal With It, affect you?”
It did nothing whatsoever for me. I just didn’t care.
Hugo S. didn’t get Noah’s point (or he did, and choose to ignore it). Noah didn’t “show off” his nudity with an arrogant and macho attitude (Hugo S: “Brand is responding to his own body issues in a classically male way”). Noah did show his images with calm, awareness and quiet courage. He did it for himself, and as a testimony for others, a way to inspire the same courage in others who still struggle. No bravado, no machismo: just a human being who has chosen to stop being ashamed (as is written in the first picture). Maybe Hugo S.,… Read more »
Hugo S. didn’t get Noah’s point (or he did, and choose to ignore it).
lolol, Indeed Valter.
I got the sense that Hugo was just deliberately being ‘Huggggo’ in that piece.
Although I enjoy looking at the ripped physiques of Gilles Marini and William Levy on DWTS, I think we all know that bodies like that seldom exist in everyday life…even the personal trainers at my gym, who are buff and quite cute, do not approach movie star level perfection… My husband and karate sensei go to the gym fairly regularly (and were once quite ripped and chiseled in their younger days), but now they are in their forties and have less hair on their heads, more grey hair all over their bodies, and bigger bellies (the six packs are in… Read more »
Most guys aren’t going to get ripped unless their taking dangerous dietary supplements. I was closing in on ripped (I still never got there) in my late teens and early twenties, but I was also juicing. That stuff also affects you mentally although most people ignore that. It’s like a dirty secret, but I’ve seen roid rage. Your husband is doing it right.
Now that that has been said let me address the bit that is quoted from Hugo: But GMP’s top editor also sets up a false dichotomy: “If my options are being ashamed or being shameless,” he writes as a caption for the first nude image in the series, “I choose shameless.” I think Hugo is trying to pin all male body image issues all across the board with this statement. The dichotomy that Noah wasn’t false. Well its only false if you try to apply it to all men. Noah has lived with his body long enough to read the… Read more »
Noah’s pictures didn’t have to be revelatory for me: that’s okay. I totally looked: I laid that piece out, and was glad to. I’m bisexual, and Noah’s totally within my range, and looking at beefcake, even homemade by a co-worker, is also well within my norms. I believe he could be the kind of force for some men who need to see those pictures, that I have found in other men’s photos. When I was coming out as trans, Loren Cameron’s Body Alchemy was my revelatory experience. He was totally ripped, and I hope he doesn’t have an eating disorder,… Read more »
What do you think of Schwyzer’s reaction to Noah Brand’s photos and essay? Do you agree that this wasn’t “the moment” for average men everywhere to find body acceptance? Or did was Noah’s pictorial revelational to you? Honestly I think Hugo is wrong to try to find “the moment” when it comes to men and body acceptance. It’s not about trying to find a single instance that someone can look back and point to 30 years later to say “that was when it happened”. No this is about men and body acceptance (and I won’t even say “average” for even… Read more »