The "menopauch" - men under pressure to look good

27/07/2007

Recent reports in the news about men starting to worry about their looks and turning to cosmetic surgery for help are raising wry smiles from women the world over.

 

For centuries, the pressure has been on women to look good, whatever their age or circumstances, pregnant or menopausal. Deeply unfair? Absolutely - especially as men of all ages lounging around in pubs sporting beer belies that could easily be mistaken for a late pregnancy, have seen it as perfectly acceptable to poke fun at women carrying a little extra weight.

 

But times, they have a-changed - according to the Men's Health Forum.

Men are facing similar pressures as women to look good, turning to diets, cosmetics, hair colour - and in increasing numbers, as they get older, cosmetic surgery. Like it or not, the "male menopaunch'', as it has been dubbed, has become something of a phenomenon.

 

The number of liposuction operations for older men has risen by 140% during the past five years - and the appetite continues to soar with eight times the number of men are enduring it as did three years ago. In fact one in four of all liposuction operations carried out by The Harley Medical Group are now on men.

The Men's Health Forum believes that advertising and the media are reinforcing the stereotypes that men needed to be athletic-looking and toned. Peter Baker, chief executive said: "Since the late 80s and early 90s, the message to men is that they have to look good. We constantly see images of men with six-packs and toned bodies on the front of magazines and on TV. It is similar to what women have had to put up with for much longer, although it is not yet as bad."

 

Poor things.

And men, like women, are learning that beauty doesn't come cheap. Liposuction costs around £3,700 and needs one week off work in recovery time. One in five operations are to remove eye bags, called a blepharoplasty, while facelifts account for 14% of procedures, nose jobs for 11% and tummy tucks for 8%. Neck lifts add up to 7% of procedures on men over 50, brow lifts account for 5%, chin implants for 3% and ear surgery for 2%.

But what does all this "looking good" really mean - whether you are a man or a woman? Surely we should be asking why we have become so obsessed with external appearances, rather than valuing who a person is on the inside, and celebrating the changing lines of age rather than trying to erase them?

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