Many people think that only fat women are stigmatized and and that obese men are respected. That's total bullshit. A lot of evidence shows that weightism affects men a lot, including both overweight and underweight men. About 40% of men or more, across 3 samples, reported having dealt with weight stigmatization. This is especially common among younger men, unmarried men, men of low income, men of high education or men who are underweight/overweight. They found that although underweight women weren't stigmatized, unlike overweight women, both underweight and obese men were stigmatized. Among men, low BMI was associated with depression, suicidal attempts or suicidal thoughts, but not overweight men. A paper looking at multiple studies00129-6) across all age groups found that men can face body dissatisfaction as much as women do, but while many men want to be heavier, many men want to lose weight, and many men might want to get heavier because they're underweight or because they want to become muscular, not obese.

Men also face pressure to be muscular. In the UK, 10% of men in the gym appeared to have muscle dysmorphia. It could also affect 6% of US students, and it affects men in their late teens to mid-30s. It also affects 12.7% of men and 4.2% of women in the military. Muscle dysmorphia is characterized by steroid use, eating disorders, and exercise addiction. It's underreported and underrecognized by health professionals. One sample of 18-24 year old men showed that 22% suffered muscularity-oriented disordered eating.

Men on online dating apps disproportionately report engaging in risky behaviors like diet pills (40.2%), fasting for weight loss (54.1%), muscle building supplements (49.8%), laxative use (41.1%), vomiting for weight control (36.4%), and anabolic steroids (36.4%). All these behaviors were far more common among male versus female dating app users, and it was far more common than people who weren't on dating apps.

25% of people diagnosed with eating disorders are male, and it could be higher because this only looks at people who get diagnosed. 33% of males have used unhealthy behaviors to alter their weight, and men with eating disorders have higher mortality risks than their female counterparts. Binge eating disorders especially affect men, but anorexia and bulimia could be more common in men than previously thought because it's underdiagnosed.

According to surveys, men feel a lot of pressure to be muscular and some engage in unhealthy behaviors over this, and they often feel dissatisfied with their body because of this.