Well, this is ironic

I found these couple of paragraphs in an article about men with eating disorders being on the rise:

Everts said his disorder became evident in high school in the late '70s when he began eating less and exercising more to become a better athlete. The 5-foot-10 football player got all the way down to 96 pounds, a hospital room and eventually, a psychiatric ward.

"They just basically said, 'If you eat, you'll get out,'" he said. That triggered a new problem: binge eating. Everts eventually found help, though he still considers himself recovering. He now weighs around 134 pounds — within the normal weight range for a man his height.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa, back the fuck up. For a man at 5'10", 134lbs is normal?! If this is what we should believe as passing for normal, no wonder eating disorders are on the rise. I'm 6'0" and 220lbs, and for myself, I'm thinking 200lbs is "normal." And I tend to think I'm correct; I'm a bit bigger boned than most people, so I can take on more weight. But still, if 134lbs is "normal" for somebody 2 inches shorter than me, then what am I supposed to be? 150lbs? That's insane!

The article points out the influence of the media on male behavior, which I think is fair. Just like women are influenced be the skinny sticks we see everywhere, men are influenced by underware models and action stars. But if 134lbs is the prescribed "normal" weight for somebody at 5'10", I'd have to say thoise figures are an influence, too.

Men, guts are OK. And that goes for women, too.