Just a reminder: The pressure to meet unattainable standards of beauty doesn’t just fall on women (even if we do bear the brunt of it).

Men can be plagued by body-related insecurities, too.

And, just like women, many of them are taking extreme measures to make their bodies fit an ideal.

In Australia, that means a rise in the number of men going through breast reduction surgery to get rid of their moobs (also known as man boobs, or, in medical terms, gynecomastia, meaning enlarged male breasts).


The causes of man boobs vary, but are often due to hormonal imbalances or weight gain.



And the main way to get rid of excess breast tissue? Surgery.

Chest remodeling is a procedure that involves making a small incision in the breast then using liposuction to suck out the fat in the area.

One dermatologist based in Melbourne, Dr Daniel Lanzer, says he’s noticed a significant rise in the number of men going through the procedure. He now performs up to five breast reduction surgeries on men a day.

These guys know the difference (Picture: Ella Byworth/Getty Images)

‘People cannot believe how common it is now,’ he told News.com.au.

‘I perform a whole range of procedures, and male breast reduction has become the most popular procedure that people come to me for.’

Dr Lanzer reports that many of the men who come in for the treatment have been teased for years, and are often too embarrassed to take their shirts off on the beach.

Over in America, the trend continues – in 2016, 27,760 men had breast reduction surgery. That’s a 36% increase since 2000.

It’s worth noting that while everyone’s free to do what they like with their body, surgery isn’t a magical quick fix for poor body image.

Breast reduction surgery can be pricey, recovery can take some time, and as with all surgeries, there are risks of infection.

If so many men are feeling insecure about excess breast tissue, maybe that’s something we need to address on a societal scale.

Just as body positivity is slowly but surely shuffling forwards the diversity in the types of women’s bodies we see in advertising and on out TV screens, it could be handy to show more men who don’t fit the super-sculpted standard.

Perhaps it’s time to embrace the moob and stop making men feel like they’re weird or unattractive because of a little extra flab.

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