Most of us would like to have a chiseled body like Dwayne Johnson or Jason Mamoa, and women may strive to achieve Beyonce’s or Shakira’s body, but there is a stark difference between how women and men are represented and treated in the media when it comes to their image. Women face substantially more criticism over their body weight, this article aims to explore this phenomenon.
Famous Men And Their Weight Changes
There are so many male artists and actors that can be considered downright obese and not just overweight. Yet, how much content was created around DJ Khaled weight gain?
Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, and even Vin Diesel have gained weight recently and we’re body shamed online and offline for the changes in their body. However, the media only covered their weight changes briefly, and only those who are consistently checking tabloids would have noticed the “news”. If someone isn’t a fan of these celebrities, or not usually staying updated on tabloid news, they may not have heard anything about it.
How The Media Treats Women’s Weight Fluctuations
As we’ve said before, women get a lot more negative feedback when they lose weight and are more encouraged to stay inline with beauty standards of the day—which generally advise them to lose weight in one way or the other. Even though being skinny isn’t as fashionable as it was in the 90s, and a fuller figure is encouraged; there is nonetheless pressure put on women to look a certain way. Female celebrities routinely go to great lengths in order to achieve this look. Any female celebrity that does not conform to these standards is both celebrated (by feminist media) and criticized heavily.
Adele is a prime example of a female celebrity that received a lot of attention for her weight. When she first started performing, many were mesmerized by her powerful voice, but she was heavily criticized for being overweight. On the other hand, some parts of the media focused on her weight in a positive way, calling her brave for not conforming to traditional beauty standards. Many would call her the face of the body positivity movement. Regardless of what the media was saying about her (positive or negative), it included mentioning her weight. This was the case for so long. After some time, she decided that she needed to lose weight, because performing was becoming more and more difficult as she was overweight. Needless to say, her weight loss was met with a lot of media coverage. One side praised her on the new look, encouraging her to keep going. Another side of the media (and her fans) felt that she had betrayed the body positivity movement, and that she had “sold out”.
In short, women that are under the spotlight face a lot more pressure to look a certain way. Male celebrities do not get as much criticism for their weight fluctuations, nor are they subject to anywhere near as much pressure as their female counterparts. They can indeed get away with a lot more weight changes without any consequences. Leptin hormone is one of the main reason of obesity. Many researches prove it.
