Beauty Demands

It shouldn’t really surprise anyone that the COVID-19 pandemic, and restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, have devastated mental health [1]. In the United States, for instance, nationally representative surveys have reported that the prevalence of depressive symptoms and serious psychological distress tripled during the pandemic compared to levels measured in 2018 [2-3]. In the United Kingdom, data from the Household Longitudinal Study panel shows that the first nationwide lockdown led to an increase in the prevalence of clinically-significant mental health distress [4]. With as many as 10 million people in the United Kingdom needing new or additional mental health support as a result of the pandemic [5], some have suggested that the crisis poses the greatest threat to mental health since the Second World War [6].   Illness or fear of illness, limited opportunities for social contact, the loss of loved ones, reduced access to educational and work opportunities, and disruption

  Zac Efron’s “dad bod transformation” caused a furore on social media after his Netflix show, Down to Earth , was released. Some loved his ‘new look’, others argued that calling his physique a ‘dad bod’ shows just how far the male beauty ideal has gone . Zac Efron isn’t the only celebrity shamed and praised for his ‘dad bod’. Jason Momoa was shamed last year for holiday pictures without a six-pack. And, Jamie Jewitt and Antony Costa have been praised by fans for working on their ‘dad bods’. The term ‘dad bod’ was coined by Makenzie Pearson in a 2015 article Why Girls Love the Dad Bod , and the term quickly went viral with many debating whether this type of male body should be a source of shame or pride . The ‘dad bod’ phenomenon is just one of the beauty ideals which men try to attain. In Perfect Me , Heather argues pressures to be perfect are increasingly affecting men. “The men’s personal care industry is predicted to hit $166 billion by 2022” and men’s skin-care products are