Striving for Perfection: Body Image in Males
Got to participate in a panel discussion on body image in males for The Stream, a program which airs on Al Jazeera English. Really stoked to have been a part of it, especially because of the other panelists. Alan Aragon, a nutrition and body building expert, had a lot of unique things to talk about that were new to me.
Here’s a clip from my interview last month with Huffington Post Live about eating disorders in men. You can watch the full segment here.
I wanted to let you know that I’ve been invited to be on a panel discussing eating disorders in men on Huffington Post Live. Thought I’d share since eating disorders are what led me to GSEX in the first place. My understanding is that my friend, author Carrie Arnold, and the founder of UK charity group Men Get Eating Disorders, Too, Sam Thomas, will also be taking part.
I’m really excited that HP is doing this and to be a part of it, since it’s currently Eating Disorder Awareness Week!I posted the full interview on my blog, which you can see here:
http://arenomore.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/anorexia-in-men-on-the-rise-huffington-post-live-interview/
Thanks,
Matt
Matthew Wetsel
Research Specialist
Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Neuropsychology
Virginia Commonwealth University[Here’s the facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TilEDsAreNoMore]
Small update, the other (awesome) people I mentioned ended up not being able to participate. But the other panelists had lots of great stuff to say, so you should go listen to them too!
New post about religion and recovery. What’s a nonbeliever to do when the G-word is getting dropped left and right?
From the link: “I had never been comfortable with the personified notion of God. Just typing the word God I feel conflicted. As I write this, I debate if I should put it in quotes or make the ‘g’ lowercase. And back then, when the word ‘God’ was invoked in meetings or by friends, I would feel myself tune out because it’s something I just couldn’t relate to.”
Click the title for my full write-up from Lobby Day last week!
“We hold a Congressional Briefing every time there’s a Lobby Day to offer in-depth testimonies from a variety of people who have been effected by eating disorders. This Spring, the spotlight was on diversity, because eating disorders don’t discriminate by race, gender, orientation, cultural background, or socioeconomic status.
Among the speakers was Sarah Yeung, an immigrant from Hong Kong, shared a moving testimony about developing an eating disorder after relocating to the U.S. and the challenges she faced getting treatment. Another woman named Tracy Smith spoke on behalf of her daughter, Reanna, who died while waiting for treatment to be approved. Tracy had been told by her insurance company that her daughter’s eating disorder was not “life threatening” and denied treatment. Desperate, Tracy took a new job with a better insurance plan, but Reanna died just two weeks before the plan would have come into effect.
I wish these were uncommon stories. But I hear them all the time. In a country like the United States where eating disorders have been observed, treated, and diagnosed for over half a century, it is shameful and tragic and wrong that people are dying from a treatable and preventable problem in record numbers.”

The sign I’m holding reads: ‘ I support FREED because some people still don’t believe men can get eating disorders. I was anorexic for two years.’
Finally had a chance to see Miss Representation last night at a VCU screening, and got my review right here!
“Other films, such as America the Beautiful, go a little bit more in depth in their dissection of the current culture surrounding body image and how we regard women. But, if America the Beautiful is a meticulous analysis of that culture, Miss Representation is a call to arms against it and the patriarchy which created and reinforces all the problems brought up, both for those of us living it now but especially for the rising generation.”