Men of reddit, everyone always talks about the harmful effects of female beauty standards. What are some of the ways male beauty standards affect your life? What can we as women do to make sure the body positivity movement is for everybody?

This is exactly what I'm struggling with right now. Growing up in school students and teachers would very vocally point out how it was disgusting that they could see my ribs, veins, tendon, heartbeat etc. It's incredibly annoying when people (almost always women) need to tell me how "lucky" I am to be able to eat loads and not gain weight. These same people would never tell a paraplegic person they're lucky to be unable to walk because walking is effort yet I am not afforded the same courtesy. These same people will tell you to just "eat a burger" as if I'm not already on a diet, reviewed by dietitian, that currently stands at 4500 calories a day.

To add to that, as a very skinny male I find it impossible to be taken seriously by doctors in regards to my weight. Here in the UK there's been a big focus on the "obesity epidemic" and as a result it feels like doctors don't care about underweight people. I am currently 5'11" with a weight of 50kg and yet I still had to fight tooth and nail to get an appointment with my GP to simply get a blood test. GP and consultants (again mainly women (probably more a result of more women being in that field)) regularly ask dismissive questions like "is it really affecting you life? you're still mobile" as i sit their with a hunched back from atrophied back muscles, constant back pain, rapid balding, sagging and hardened around my body, and reduced motor skills all at the ripe old age of 21. The prime of my life....

Sorry if this seems ranty, I've just never had the chance to give my perspective. I would ask people to stop making comments about peoples weight and everything related as it is already hard enough as it is. These comments paired with my experiences have made me very suicidal in the past and if it wasn't for the fact I care about my rabbit and my friends I would have offed myself a long time ago.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent