Boys The Bully In The Mirror Summary

In today’s society there is great emphasis and pressure put on girls to be perfect; however many people do not realize the male preoccupation with their appearance and body image. Adolescent boys are experiencing deprecating self-confidence and body image issues because of the images portrayed in the media, bullying in school and even the competition to look better than the person lifting weights next to them in the gym. Stephen hall brings light to this growing issue in his article “the troubled life of boys; the bully in the mirror.” Hall begins his article with the story of sixteen-year-old Alexander Bregstein, a teen who once “carried nearly 210 pounds on a 5-foot-six frame.” Alexander decided to make a drastic change in his appearance

Harvard medical school released a study on muscle dysmorphia in adult men and women all of which had become “pathologically preoccupied”’ with their self-image; convinced that they were inadequate in size when in actuality their muscles were bulging. People with this disorder disregard the importance of normal things in life such as one’s job or social participation. Furthermore, the problem with men’s struggle for self-acceptance in their appearance is the images projected in the media; everywhere you look there are ads of the “perfect body” and what is seemingly the standard in today’s society. These advertisements place an unattainable ideal of what a male body should look like into young men’s minds. There was a similar study mentioned by Hall on the evolution of the G.I Joe doll over the years. When the GI Joe was introduced in 1964 it was marketed as the “American Hero.” The GI Joe doll was once a thin tall man and through the decades his body has been transformed into a buff and chiseled figure. Consequently, these objects are idolized by the young boys who play with them which contributes unconsciously to the “perfect body” that young men strive to achieve. Furthermore, Hall introduces his own focus group of teen boys. The first thing he did when meeting with the boys was asking them how they feel when looking in the mirror: as one could assume in a group of middle