Advocating for the Silent Majority

Project 95 is a body positivity campaign for college aged men. When in the research phase the mission became clear.

How can I inform people about young men’s body dissatisfaction and reduce the stigma they feel when discussing it?

Project 95 aims to help by letting these young men know they are not alone in feeling dissatisfied with their bodies despite the absence of advocacy in the media. Project 95 also aims to raise awareness for those suffering by informing those who do not know how widespread this issue is.

Why This is Important to Me

Growing up I saw so many things about how horrible the media was, pushing an unattainable and overly sexualized beauty standard onto young women, but silence when it came to young men.

I was always smaller than my friends and felt insecure because I did not fit the standard that I felt society perpetuating. Since there were no causes advocating for young men’s body image I felt like I was just the weird one facing a “Women’s issue”. Because of this I would play it off as a joke, because I thought if I brought it up I would be viewed as even less manly than I already felt. To compensate I developed habits and hobbies that were stereotypically masculine and oftentimes dangerous.

Years later my little brother told me that he had been doing the same thing I was. While this validated my feelings it also made me start questioning how many other people felt like they were the only one’s struggling with body dissatisfaction. Upon talking to seven of my closest friends I discovered all of them had faced the same issue with varying levels of severity. Through that conversation the idea for Project 95 was formed.

Research

When the research phase of this project began I realized why I had not heard about men’s body image while I was struggling with it. There is very little research done on the topic compared to women’s body image. Every study I found noted that there was little peer research done, and that they believed the numbers could be higher due to societal pressure on men to not admit when they are dealing with something. The studies I found were mainly focused on undergraduate men.

These studies reported that between 90% and 95% of these men suffered from body dissatisfaction, and more than 60% of men of all ages are suffering.

With this information I conducted my own series of interviews, a survey, and a focus group. My research was consistent with the studies I had found.

Notable results

_92% suffering body dissatisfaction.
_Nearly half of those felt like they could not talk about it.
_Roughly a third said they had started doing dangerous activities to compensate.
_Half said the way to fix the issue was better representation in the media.
_Half said the way to fix the problem was mentorship and informing people it exists.

Surveys were conducted through google forms.

Design Solution

When the research phase of this project began I realized why I had not heard about men’s body image while I was struggling with it. There is very little research done on the topic compared to women’s body image. Every study I found noted that there was little peer research done, and that they believed the numbers could be higher due to societal pressure on men to not admit when they are dealing with something. The studies I found were mainly focused on undergraduate men.

These studies reported that between 90% and 95% of these men suffered from body dissatisfaction, and more than 60% of men of all ages are suffering.

With this information I conducted my own series of interviews, a survey, and a focus group. My research was consistent with the studies I had found.

Notable results

_92% suffering body dissatisfaction.
_Nearly half of those felt like they could not talk about it.
_Roughly a third said they had started doing dangerous activities to compensate.
_Half said the way to fix the issue was better representation in the media.
_Half said the way to fix the problem was mentorship and informing people it exists.

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.