Emma Flint picks up on how shallow and body-beautiful Ken is portrayed to be in the new Barbie movie compared to Barbie (Paunch-free zone: why the Barbie movie’s body diversity message shortchanges Ken, 24 July). I have a 13-year-old daughter who is sporty, curvy, and has a very positive body image. And a 15-year-old son whom we are currently referring for private counselling due to a gym obsession and possible body dysmorphia.
In my youth, it was girls who felt the pressure to be model-thin or magazine-perfect. Today, boys are bombarded with images of six-packs and bulging biceps, driven by algorithms on social media which risk amplifying a teenage boy’s reasonable interest in the gym into an obsession.
This needs addressing online and in conventional media, much as has been done for teenage girls in recent years thanks to role models such as the singer Meghan Trainor. Otherwise, I foresee a tsunami of boys with eating disorders and/or gym obsessions. Ken is obviously not helping the cause.
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