“Looks far too skinny; there's being healthy, then going too far,” writes a concerned citizen under an Instagram post of Robbie Williams. Another commented, “He looks so old and way to skinny [sic],” while another wrote, “Oh my word, he looks too skinny, emaciated even…”
So far, so intrusive. But these comments seem particularly troubling given how open Robbie has previously been about his body image.
In a recent Instagram post about his weight loss, he wrote, "I could write a book about self-loathing where my body image is concerned […] I'm body dysmorphic and on top of being dysmorphic at times I can be 40+ pounds overweight. So you can imagine what my mind see's [sic]."
If any of this sounds familiar, that's because it is. While we're used (and, to some extent, desensitised) to famous women being body-shamed, famous men are certainly not immune from obsessive scrutiny over their appearances.
Case in point: “What happened to Liam Payne’s beautiful face???” asked one person on Twitter earlier this year. One person theorised that “There has definitely been some kind of jaw crap going on,” while another described him as “The face of the buccal fat removal movement.” Really nice.
Elsewhere, cosmetic surgeons “weighed in” on Payne's appearance by listing all the areas of his face that might have had fillers or Botox. And what did the former One Direction star do to warrant this scrutiny? He was simply supporting his friend, former bandmate Louis Tomlison, at the premiere of the film All Of Those Voices.
It's not the first time Liam Payne has been publicly shamed for his appearance. In 2014, he posted a photo of himself wearing a padded shirt to Instagram, captioning the post, "I mean OH MY GOD I'm just so fat these days I think I need help! Quick someone take the cookie jar,” after his weight was mocked online.
And who could forget when photos of Zac Efron on the set of his film The Iron Claw prompted cruel social media comments and headlines about his appearance, serving as a stark reminder of the toxic beauty standards that impact men as well as women. The actor wore a wig to portray real-life wrestler Kevin Von Erich in the movie, prompting fans to compare his looks to Shrek character Lord Farquaad and online articles about his “shocking” new look – only fuelling further commentary about Zac's appearance.
And while many of the comments about Robbie Williams, Liam Payne and Zac Efron may not have been meant harmfully, it does raise questions as to why amongst men, it is often deemed more acceptable to mock or tease them for their appearance or body type. After all, it was only in 2020 that Zac was the subject to a number of stories for “surprising” with his “dad bod”, after being pictured without – god forbid – his now-signature six-pack abs.
In fact, Zac himself has spoken a little about his difficult experiences with achieving a certain look for his roles – particularly his Baywatch lifeguard physique, which he admitted left him feeling unwell and depressed for around six months.
“That required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve,” he told Men's Health. “I fell into a pretty bad depression, for a long time. Something about that experience burned me out. I had a really hard time re-centreing. Ultimately they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it messed something up.”
Undoubtedly, women are subject to harmful body and beauty standards which go back years, but men can be affected by body image tropes too – though they can go a little more under the radar or disguised as ‘banter’ or harmless jokes.
Zac Efron has been subject to a lot of speculation about his appearance over the past few years, specifically amid claims of plastic surgery (something that is generally deemed more acceptable for women than men, though of course, is still stigmatised).
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After appearing in a video on Earth Day earlier in 2022, dramatic headlines circulated about his “very different” appearance, and the comments keep on coming after every interview. In his Men's Health interview, he revealed that he severely injured his jaw in an accident earlier that year, which caused some of the muscles to overcompensate. He also told Entertainment Tonight of the incident: “It sucked, I almost died.”
Regardless of the reasoning: why should Zac Efron be subject to mean comments about his appearance, or have to explain himself in interviews?
He's not the only one. Timothée Chalamet has also spoken of how he felt embarrassed of his paleness in photos published of him kissing former girlfriend Lily-Rose Depp in 2016. He told GQ: “I went to bed that night thinking that was one of the best days of my life. I was on this boat all day with someone I really loved, and closing my eyes, I was like, indisputably, ‘That was great.’ And then waking up to all these pictures, and feeling embarrassed, and looking like a real kn*b? All pale? And then people are like: ‘This is a P.R. stunt’. A P.R. stunt?! Do you think I'd want to look like that in front of all of you?!”
“Not to spoil the ending but everything is going to be OK”.
If we don't celebrate men of all body types, how can we hope for the same? What's more, encouraging the idea that men are immune to worries or sensitivity surrounding their appearance surely only reinforces the harmful notion that they won't speak up when experiencing these very real issues. A 2021 study by CALM found that 48% of men said they have struggled with their mental health because of their body image – and since suicide is still the biggest cause of death for men under 50 in the UK, assuming they are immune to low confidence or insecurity is false, and potentially dangerous.
Repeat after me: the way someone – man or otherwise – looks is none of our business.
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677 or beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
