AndrewFowler

Next week (25 th February - 3 rd March) is Eating Disorder Awareness Week in the UK and this year�s theme is Breaking Down Barriers [�to treatment], of which there are many. Research indicates that only 20-30% of people with eating disorders receive professional help [1-2], despite the fact that eating disorders are frequently chronic and intractable illnesses associated with numerous medical complications, psychosocial impairment, and the highest mortality rates of all psychiatric illnesses [3]. As well as the stigma linked to mental illness, eating disorders are often also subject to an additional layer of stigma whereby eating disorders are widely trivialised, even among healthcare professionals [4]. Depending on the exact presentation, eating disorders can be viewed as the result of either an over-investment in societal standards to be thin � �a diet gone too far� OR the absence of care and respect for one�s body and self. This is reflected in the research and I have personally h...

Men�s appearance concerns have historically had less attention than women�s beauty. So, it�s a strange thing when representations of attractive men become a source of public outrage. In this blog we consider three recent examples, where the representation of �hottie�, �handsome� or simply �good�� masculinity has provoked responses of shock, anger or indignation that appear to underpin a desire to annihilate them. These are, TubeCrush, a website where users send in unsolicited photographs of attractive men on the London Underground; a Lumen dating adver t for the over-50s company whose �Pull a cracker�� campaign was banned on the London Underground, and; the notorious Gillette advert , �The best a man can be�, which received a raft of media attention   for its clean-shaven, non-toxic image of masculinity (e.g reactions here , here and here ). Below we discuss each of these examples and why we think this outrage is misplaced. Photo: kevin-bhagat-804491-unsplash So, starting with Tub...