Counselor Thomas Fewer starts a conversation on gay men, body image, and eating disorders with four questions.
Hello. My name is Thomas Fewer. I am a licensed professional counselor in New Orleans, Louisiana. I will be writing an article for the Good Men Project on the prevalence of body image issues and eating disorders among gay men. I will address what appear to be the causes and consequences of these issues and how they get perpetuated. The article will include my analysis of the responses to a series of four questions from gay males who have been impacted by these problems. Responses can be made anonymously or with an alias though it would be helpful to know the age of each person who responds. The questions are listed below.
I have had experience dealing with these problems in the lives of clients that I’ve seen and close friends that I have had. My intention is to bring some awareness to what I believe is a crucial issue in the lives of many gay men. If you would like to contribute your responses to this discussion please send them to: [email protected].
Thank you for your time,
Thomas
- Do you believe that body image issues and eating disorders are prevalent in the male gay community?
- If so, what do you think causes and perpetuates these issues?
- How have these problems impacted you or someone close to you?
- Would you like to add anything else to this discussion that you feel is important to note?
—Photo credit: istolethetv/Flickr
I noticed with a lot of my gay peers that we are naturally skinny and we eat tons and tons of food but we just can’t gain weight. I don’t see many people with eating disorders where they don’t eat or are bulimic.
Atleast that is the problem with me and my friends. I am 22, gay and live in Vancouver and cannot gain weight even if i overeat and excercise etc.
I’m glad to hear that’s not an issue for you or your friends.
It sounds like you have a healthy body image.