Where have all the good men gone?

On Thursday I launched a facebook ad campaign for my new business, Never Diet Again UK. So far I think it's going quite well, with 56 new 'likes' in three (not yet over) days.

What surprised me a bit was how many of them were from men. The ad simply has the business name, and a pic from my website of a very happy-looking redheaded young woman jumping in the air. That's her on the left.

I don't know why I should be surprised. Men are increasingly being stigmatised over their weight, more traditionally a woman's curse. They too are being made to feel less worthy because their waist measurement doesn't fit the current thin 'ideal', or because their glistening firm pecs don't jump off the page in family photos like the steroid-pumped, surgically enhanced hunks on the cover of men's fitness mags. OK, some of those hunks may naturally look like that anyway (with the help of too much time in the gym and a bottomless supply of egg whites, chicken breasts and protein shakes) - like women, men's bodies come in all shapes and sizes. And that's a good thing. But weight stigma doesn't discriminate by gender, race, age, or anything else.

So to try and speak more directly to my new male fans, I decide to check out some websites or blogs from men who were overweight, but had learned that dieting doesn't work, wasn't helping them, and wasn't the answer anyway. And you know what? I couldn't find any. Not one. Now I don't doubt that somewhere out there such a resource exists, and I'd love to hear from you if you know of any, but there is clearly a significant imbalance here. 

I am afraid that those of us promoting body acceptance and health rather than weight are focussing almost exclusively on women. We probably feel that women are more likely to need our help. Or maybe, we as women, have been quicker to fight back against the diet industry that has disempowered us for so long, and we now want to help others like ourselves. But 30% of hits in a 3-day period tells me that we are failing an important segment of society who also need our help and support. Either that or they all have a thing for redheads!

In contrast, the diet and weight loss juggernaut has been quick to jump on this increased body hatred in our male compatriots, as well as helping to fuel it. So this is a call to others in the HAES community. Let's not forget the boys.