Documentary related to body image issues for men (in a way)

[CaptainForehead]

Bigger, Faster, Stronger (2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpf-CXn3Bis

Other parts linked.

Its a bit depressing, the older brother is married to a hot girl, the youngest one is also married to a pretty girl, but they are not satisfied.
BTW, the older brother died later that year (I assume from substance abuse issues).

Also interesting is Greg Valentino who readily admits he has a small man complex (HPM will relate to that), height 5.6

Its a bit wrenching when you hear the mom say "I thought it is easier to raise boys, at least they dont have their heads in the toilet throwing up". Society doesnt understand the pressure guys are under.

PS: Since muscles seem to be imperative for baldies, anyone done steroids?

 

[hairhoper]

Really good watch, thanks for sharing

Don't hear much steroid talk here, I think most of us are trying to save our hair rather than compensate for losing it.

No doubt though if you go and visit some bodybuilding forums you will find a lot of guys that decided to get buff as a result of losing their hair.

 

[hairhoper]

Just to add Part 8 has a great section on supplements.

Worth a watch for you supplement freaks even if you can't be bothered to watch the whole thing.

 

[cuebald]

yeah, this was posted in the OT section a while ago, it's quite a sad documentary.
I wonder how true it is that men 80 years ago didn't care how they looked. I think there have been baldness potions around since the time of Old Egypt so men must have been bothered by baldness at least some. It is known that Caesar disliked his baldness, Nero hated his NW3V (he didn't allow anyone to stand above him) and Aristotle even lamented on his NW6.

In the UK there never was this big muscle obsession like you get in the states, and people with big muscles are seen as compensating (or just weird). Action heros are more seen as Bond than Arnie, and girls go for the football (soccer) player physique. i.e. lean but with muscles. It's just as important how your face looks, and what your "demeanour" is. I wouldn't say personality as such, but the way you act in general can influence a lot how women perceive you.
Before I lost my hair I was relatively handsome but I didn't get that many women as I was introverted and awkward around people; my less handsome friend had much better luck with girls. (now of course I am doomed).
I reckon even if CCS had surgery to make himself uber handsome, he still wouldn't have that much luck just because of how strange is he.
I'd much rather be a skinny NW1 than a buff NW6. muscles don't count for sh*t in this day and age.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Having suffered from acute BDD in my youth I can attest to how mentally debilitating worrying about your image can be.

 

[CaptainForehead]

Having suffered from acute BDD in my youth I can attest to how mentally debilitating worrying about your image can be.

What issues did you have?

 

[uncomfortable man]

I was too skinny. Borderline annorexic. But in my eyes BDD made it look even worse to the point where I looked like a monster. But yet I couldn't stop looking at my reflection... not in admiration but to see if my appearance somehow improved. What was funny is that at times it did improve and I felt like I looked normal but not most of the time. I was so self conscious about it that I used to wear layers of clothing to fill myself out. Gym class was a b**ch.

 

[CaptainForehead]

I was too skinny. Borderline annorexic. But in my eyes BDD made it look even worse to the point where I looked like a monster. But yet I couldn't stop looking at my reflection... not in admiration but to see if my appearance somehow improved. What was funny is that at times it did improve and I felt like I looked normal but not most of the time. I was so self conscious about it that I used to wear layers of clothing to fill myself out. Gym class was a b**ch.

A bit confused, in your eyes, did you feel you were too skinny or too big?

How did you get over it?

 

[slipy]

Ucman anorexics are those who have mental problems and starve themselves. natural thinness is not anorexia.

i guess your problem resolved itself. i wish it would happen to me. i'm 23 and im still just as thin as i was 10 years ago. i was the skinniest guy in my class and even those who were shorter weighed more than me. it didn't bother me that much untill i started to lose my hair. Now im unsure of how im suppossed to face the world being this freak.

 

[BrightonBaldy]

i remember watching an MIT lecture on happiness online, they were doing a study relating to why people feel happy.

from the thousands of people they spoke to, everyone who go through massive changes in life didnt get any happier or unhappier in the long term.

lottery winners get happier for years, then get conditioned into being used to it... people lose their limbs or sight eventually get 'used to it' too. over time, everybody they spoke to had a base level of contentment they barely shifted from when measured in years.

except one group, the people who had cosmetic surgery, those people never got bored of the results over time and remained very happy indefinitly. the same went for those who had been burnt or whatever the other way, they never got used to it either.

it wasnt a conclusion to the lecture or anything, just a sidenote on the unique exception to the long term contemtment findings, that people simply stay happy/unhappy where changes to their looks are concerned.

 

[BrightonBaldy]

err... excuse the crap grammer, on a phone just now!

basically if we aint ok with how we look bald, then we never will. pretty depressing stuff.

 

[CaptainForehead]

Maybe not ALL cosmetic surgeries...
http://extrahappiness.com/happiness/?p=3745

 

[BrightonBaldy]

doesnt matter if they like or hate it, wasnt the point and is pretty much irrelevant, people do not/can not get used to changes in how they look.

if somebody has a bad op thats changed them, the time will never come for them to simply accept it, unlike the people that lost their SIGHT in this study lol

every positive or negative change in your life might make you happier or unhappier for a while but image is the only one thats permenant.