Social media has a bad habit of taking old misogynistic concepts, giving them new names, and perpetuating outdated ideas about men and women. The latest trend sparking international debate is “#Dadbod” — a term coined to describe middle-aged men who were formerly of an athletic build, but who now have a more round, less toned body type.
Though this trend may at first seem superficial, it actually says a lot more about our society’s gender expectations than we give it credit for.
I want to make my stance on body acceptance clear: people come in all sizes, and there is certainly no ‘cookie cutter’ shape that we should all stride to achieve. But this trend represents more than just a body acceptance movement for men — it’s a reminder that the society we live in holds different standards for men and women.
The real issue stems from the nature of this trend. Put simply, dadbod is male privilege disguised as empowerment. If we consider the reverse, the idea of ‘mombod,’ I don’t think any of us can say with certainty that it would generate the same response. Middle-aged women are slammed with advertisements for diet regiments and gym memberships; they are pressured into losing baby weight and maintaining their youthful shape.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where only men can celebrate their bodies whichever way they come.
Kristin Schaal, a comedian on The Daily Show, called out this hypocrisy last week by naming off famous “Momshells” — such as Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson, and Jennifer Lopez — who were celebrated for how quickly they were able to lose the baby weight, instead of embracing their new shape. Schaal points out that women can never relax about the shape of their body, that for women it is never okay to accept anything less than a perfect figure.
Celebrating dadbod highlights the hypocrisy women face during conversations about body shape. Unfortunately, we live in a society where men can celebrate their bodies whichever way they come, while women are not so privileged. As Brian Moylan, pop culture columnist for Time magazine, puts it, “the problem with the Dad Bod isn’t what it says about men, but what it says about women and how we treat them.”
I will acknowledge that men can also feel insecure about their bodies, but I do not approve of the dadbod craze all the same. If we truly want to eradicate body image problems in our society, it has to be done with more respect by allowing women a similar privilege, and it certainly has to be more inclusive. Celebrating dadbod does not qualify as an empowerment movement for men, but rather a parade of male privilege.
Body appreciation is not a subject to shy away from and merits conversation, but before you jump on the ‘dadbod’ bandwagon, stop and think about what terms like this say about gender equality and body image.
