Experts: Men Have Body Image Worries Too

The front page of Abercrombie and Fitch's web site is seen Friday, Oct. 6, 2006, in New York. Researchers say that body image is not just an issue for women and media images can have adverse effects on male self-esteem also. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) (Peter Morgan - AP)

Body image, says Simmons, who now has a show on satellite radio, "is a very personal, private thing for guys _ something they don't want to talk about." But make no mistake, he says: "Getting into a pair of jeans is just as important for a man as a woman. He wants to look good."

Years ago, Simmons says, when he was overweight, he would turn off the TV when he saw the ultrafit exercise guru Jack LaLanne, because it depressed him. Now, he says, at age 58, 148 pounds and "cute as a button," he spends his time trying to convince people to appreciate the bodies they have.

However complicated body-image issues are for men, it seems they will always be more fraught for women.

"For boys and men, engaging with these media images is more of a choice," says Deborah Tolman of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality in San Francisco. "There's just not the same requirement for a man in our society to look a particular way. As a man, you can look terrible and still be very well respected."

As a girl, "you can be the best debater at school," Tolman says. "But if you're fat, you don't get people's admiration, despite your skill. That's not true with boys."

And what of LaLanne, now 92, who so depressed the young Simmons decades ago that he turned off the TV?

Of the incessant media images, the still-avid exerciser says, "Maybe at least that'll get 'em out doing something!" Aspiring to today's ideal body is fine, he says, as long as it's what you want. He deplores, though, the overly muscular type that "looks like they use steroids. Once you start fooling with Mother Nature, you're in trouble."

As for his own image issues, LaLanne, who still works out two hours every morning, says they're solely focused on sticking around a while longer.

"I can't afford to die," LaLanne explains. "It would wreck my image."