Honest conversations about how we see our bodies — comparison, confidence, and the comments that stick. Support without the wellness clichés.
Almost nobody has an entirely uncomplicated relationship with their own body. What differs is how much room it takes up in your head, and whether you’ve got anyone to talk to about it who won’t respond with a compliment and change the subject.
This category is for that conversation. It’s for men as much as women, and for people at every age — body image doesn’t stop being a thing at thirty.
What people talk about here
Comparison, and what feeds it. Social media, filters, and the gap between how you look and how you look on a screen. Comments from family that land years later. Rebuilding confidence after something someone said. Talking to your kids about bodies without passing on your own stuff. Ageing, illness, or injury changing how your body works and looks. Gym culture, muscle dysmorphia, and the version of this that men rarely discuss.
Body image and eating disorders overlap but aren’t the same thing. If food, restriction or purging is part of what’s happening for you, the Eating Disorder category may be a better fit, and Butterfly’s helpline below is a good first call.
Start here
- Bigorexia: How More Men Are Being Affected By Poor Body Image
- Being Body Positive in Everyday Conversation
- Love Your Body (Infographic)
Support beyond the forum
- Butterfly Foundation — national helpline for body image and eating concerns of any kind. Call 1800 33 4673.
- Kids Helpline — free 24/7 counselling for young people aged 5–25. Call 1800 55 1800.
- headspace — youth mental health support for ages 12–25. Call 1800 650 890.
- healthdirect — Australian Government health information.
How to use this category
One request: please don’t post weights, sizes, calorie counts or goal numbers. They’re rarely helpful to the person writing them and can be genuinely harmful to whoever reads them next. Describe how you feel instead — that’s the part other people can actually respond to.
Otherwise, say what you need to say. Nobody here is going to tell you that you look fine and leave it there.