Geek Men: You Don’t Need to be Bodybuilders

I’ve been thinking a lot about body image in the last few days. Specifically, my own but also in the general public. It occurs to me that we don’t like to talk about it, and it’s a shame.

The age of Social Media has brought a specific standard that people try to achieve: six-pack and large arms.

It is no longer acceptable to be on the scale between overweight and underweight except for the golden adonis index. This statement isn’t made up — it’s backed up with research.

People are attracted to a defined physique, and that attraction has evolved to encompass way more than one woman or man’s desire. That physique has been praised in Instagram stories, Facebook posts, Tweets, YouTube videos, and so much more!

But still, there are overweight people in the world (me). There are underweight people, too. Not everyone looks like a Greek God or Chris Hemsworth, but all men want to be one.

The hard truth is that most of us never will, and that’s OK. Whether you belong to the geek community, you will be loved and healthy, regardless. We need to understand the balance that works for us.

The Truth about Body Positivity

Don’t get me wrong. I do want to look fit and muscular. I really do. I used to feel so insecure in my skin that I genuinely believed that I was broken as long as I was not athletic and fit. I’m unhealthy, wrong, sick. I hated my unfit body.

But as we live and learn, so do we observe other people. How come there are happy people with round bellies? How come there are OK people even without a six-pack and massive arms? How come there are geek content creators who feel comfortable in front of a camera and aren't fit?

The world is not black and white. Whether you’re fit or not is not the matter. The matter is our perception. Our disability to distinguish between social pressure and our comfort. Perhaps it’s real? Maybe people genuinely love me even without the abs, and they’re not just faking it?

Start taking care of your happiness and health instead of your muscles and appearance.

Do things that make you smile, be fulfilled, happy. After all, we are geeks! We have so much to talk about rather than feel insecure inside our skin.

Don’t bow down to beauty standards set by people who think everyone should look one way or another.

The sentence “you do you” has been written so often that it crossed over to the realm of cliches, but it’s also true, like most cliches.

Do healthy you. Don’t do society.

There is that much to love, whether you’re big, small, or somewhere in between.