Body dissatisfaction, appearance investment, and wellbeing: How older obese men orient to "aesthetic health".

Abstract

Most research on male body image to date has focused on young men using quantitative methods. The study reported here is based on qualitative interviews with a sample of older obese men (n = 30) on a weight management programme, and we asked them about bodyrelated feelings. The interviews were all transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.Our results indicate that although body weight was typically minimised, body image was a key concern, with many examples of body consciousness and body dissatisfaction evident.On the other hand, post-programme weight loss was associated with a transformative shift in body image, with the men emphasising enhanced body confidence, self-esteem and psychological wellbeing. We conclude by highlighting the need to recognise and address appearance issues and/as health concerns for middle-aged and older men.

Young men’s minimisation of their body dissatisfaction

“…The everyday impacts ranged from disordered eating and expensive supplement regimes, to social anxiety, and avoidance of revealing their bodies. This was pervasive with almost all participants revealing some body dissatisfaction, which follows other research that has documented the myriad and highly prevalent impact of the ideal on men (Bordo, 1999;Gough et al, 2015;Pope Jr. et al, 2000).…”

“…In other words, there was a clear effort to influence participants' accounts. Whilst we feel this study design had significant advantages over others designed to assess men's body dissatisfaction, we are mindful that it also had its disadvantages including in potentially restricting participants' accounts and perhaps not fully exploring the lived experience of men's body dissatisfaction compared to other qualitative work on men's body dissatisfaction (Bordo, 1999;Gough et al, 2015). The discussions that might have been avoided in the intervention included the obviousanything unrelated to body dissatisfaction such as participants' lecture/seminar schedule, gossip relating to the module, general discussions of their psychology degree (participants took part in a seminar scheduled during the BSc psychology programme run by an interventionist whose PhD is on psychology).…”

“…Less recognized by researchers, however, are the impacts of male body dissatisfaction that may occur routinely in day-to-day life and are significant in aggregate. Such impacts may include social avoidance, disembodiment, and sexual inhibition (Frederick & Essayli, 2016;Gough, Seymour-Smith, & Matthews, 2015). For example, Frederick and Essayli (2016) found that of 112,000 men, at least 23% admitted that they tried to hide parts of their bodies during sexual intimacy, 5% refused to have sex, and 4% admitted to checking their appearance in the mirror more than four times a day.…”

Men’s reflections on their body image at different life stages: A thematic analysis of interview accounts from middle-aged men

“…When Jack says 'I wouldn't really fancy me either' and 'I'll do something about that', he suggests that at that point he had a desire to be with someone again and believed the only way to make that possible was to alter his physical appearance. None of the participants in the present study mentioned appearance-related concerns resulting from their weight-gain, contradicting findings from more recent qualitative research on older obese men who expressed heightened body consciousness and body dissatisfaction as a result of their overweight status (Gough et al, 2016). Considering the inconsistency of findings in this area, it is important that more research is done that covers both functional and aesthetic concerns.…”

Exploring the pastiche hegemony of men

“…The theorizing for these articles was developed some time after the data were collected and came after I had spent a lot of time reading gender theory for a project on men's health (Matthews, 2015;Gough et al, 2016). As my theoretical understanding of men became more nuanced I was able to go back to my field notes and interviews with a fresh conceptual map that resonated with my participants thoughts and experiences.…”