A study commissioned by Central YMCA, the Succeed Foundation and the Centre for Appearance Research at UWE Bristol surveyed 394 men about body image. The results, released today, revealed that 48 percent of gay men would sacrifice a year of their lives to obtain an ideal body image. Ten percent of those men said they would shed 11 years of their lives to obtain perfection instantaneously, with 9 in 10 of the gay men surveyed admitting to enforcing unrealistic images of lean and muscular men.
Only a third of straight men participating in the study said they’d give up a year for perfection.
Almost twice as many gay men (59 percent) as straight men (32 percent) admitted to comparing themselves to other guys.
Thirty-five percent of gay men feel their friends’ opinions of their bodies is important, compared to 20 percent of straight men.
Straight men obtained a slightly higher percentage when asked how important their partners’ views of their body were, with 51.4 percent saying “very or extremely important,” compared to 49.4 percent of gay men.
Rosi Prescott, CEO of Central YMCA, told Pink News, “This research shows that body image anxiety is, sadly, much more of an issue for gay men. Today gay men are under enormous pressure about their bodies, and we believe that a lack of body diversity in the media, including the gay press, and a relentless focus which values people based on appearance, may in part explain why gay men are particularly susceptible to this issue.”
Why you can trust Xtra
