Changes in self-image are putting men to shame

　　　　自我形象的变化令男人相形见绌

　　They’re young, muscled, athletic, and fat-free. Their 185cm body is nearly hairless, except for the perfect head of hair on top of their beautiful, wrinkle-free faces.

　　Contrary to popular opinion, men like these are easy to find. Just look inside the pages of any fashion magazine, or inside the head of a growing number of men who are increasingly worried about their self-image.

　　“Self-image isn’t just a problem for women,” says psychologist Daniel Weintraub. “Everywhere men go today, they’re confronted by advertisements full of young men who are impossibly good-looking.”

　　Thus, gyms are filled with flabby guys trying to get hard, and hard guys trying to get even harder. The trend is global, but most pronounced in the US, where men spent over $4 billion on gym memberships last year, in addition to another $3.3 billion on skin and beauty products, and $1.6 billion on hair transplants.

　　While anything that encourages people to exercise can’t be bad, some men are taking things to extremes. According to studies, men now make up more than 10 percent of those suffering from eating disorders. In that respect, you could say that men are finally starting to catch up with women, who have been suffering from eating disorders for decades.

　　Steve Evans, a 47-year-old writer in Texas, rarely eats in front of other people, so his habit of gaining and losing lots of weight was a mystery to his friends. Sometimes, while his family slept, he would empty the refrigerator. Then, to lose the extra weight, he’d overcompensate by starving himself – eating only a single salad a day, and exercising for hours on end.

　　“It used to be that men had to use a certain breath mint to be socially attractive,” says another psychiatrist. “Now, you have to have abs of steel. Look at the magazines.”

　　他们年轻、肌肉健壮、精力充沛、身上没有一点赘肉。他们1.80米高的身躯几乎没有任何毛发，只是在没有皱纹的俊美脸庞上方有一头美发。

　　与一般人的看法不同，像这样的男人很容易找得到。只要翻翻流行杂志或者了解一下越来越多担心自我形象的男性就可以了。

　　“自我形象不仅是女人的问题。”心理学家丹尼尔·温特劳博这样说，“现在的男性不管走到哪里，都得面对充斥着年轻俊男的广告。”

　　因此，健身房里挤满了试图变强壮却肌肉松弛的男人，还有那些想变得更结实的强壮男人。这是全球性的趋势，但在美国最为显著，那里的男性去年在健身馆会员资格上花了40亿美金，另外在护肤和美容产品上还花了33亿美金，在植发上花了16亿。

　　虽说鼓励大家锻炼的任何事情都不是坏事，但有些人做得太极端了。根据研究显示，男性占饮食失调患者人数的10%。就这方面而言，你可以说男人终于开始赶上女人了，女性受饮食失调所苦已经有好几十年了。

　　德州47岁的作家史蒂夫·埃文斯，很少在其他人面前吃东西，所以他体重大幅升降的习惯对他的朋友来说始终是个谜。有时候当他家人睡着时，他会把冰箱里的东西全部吃光，然后为了减掉多余的体重，他会让自己挨饿来过度弥补，一天只吃一份沙拉，而且连续运动好几个小时。

　　“以前男人要在社交方面具有吸引力，得吃让口气清新的薄荷糖。”另一位精神科医生这样说，“现在，你必须拥有结实的腹肌。去看看杂志吧！”