The Dad-Bod
A couple years back a new phenomenon was hitting the
newsstands and blogs. The Dad-Bod. For those of you who haven’t had the
pleasure of learning about such happenings, let me explain. The dad-bod was a
new physicality of male that was receiving praise and recognition. No longer
were the days where men needed big muscles, lean physiques, and low body fat.
Oh no- now enter a soft, fuzzy, disarming dad-bod. Women everywhere were a buzz
with the new fascination with a subtler handsomeness. Men were being praised
for a slightly overweight, lackadaisical look. One that tends to happen after a
man begins to have children, hence the name. But being a dad was unnecessary to
achieve this sexy new look. One only needs to carry a few extra pounds and look
disheveled. Many might ask, what’s the harm? It is true that the dad bod was
not simply met with adoration, but also some comedy mixed in here and there.
There was even a call for how the dad-bod was taking much needed pressure off
males to measure up, which was seen positively. But how does the dad bod
phenomenon measure up when comparing it to its true counterpart…the mom bod?
Women who have children go through tremendous physical changes. Their bodies
transform into a vessel for their unborn children. And afterwards things look a
bit different. Skin stretches and sags, scars tend to form, breast inflate then
deflate. Although some women choose to showcase these changes, as a sort of
badge of honor, it is certainly not viewed at as an ideal. Men don’t, for the
most part, go out in search of a post birth body. In addition, the media
focuses on the women who “bounce back” after having a baby. “How she lost the
baby weight so fast!”
When considering this societal mixed message one must wonder
why we are so open to a mans body not being perfect (or even hoping its not,)
yet expect women to attempt perfection despite having to actually carry and
birth the babies. Perhaps it is because we never truly viewed men’s bodies the
same way as women. Men can display their masculinity and attractiveness through
power and success, whereas women’s physical appearance is front and center when
considering their value in society. So, is the dad-bod really as positive as
its made to seem? This TIME article makes the case that it isn’t.
mom-bod coverage vs dad-bod coverage
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