Magazines and newspapers pay a lot of attention to the insecurities women harbour about our bodies.
They can be a pillow for your loved-one’s head, they can keep your chest toasty warm during the winter months and they make you more buoyant – almost like a human life-raft.
The media is obsessed and there are literally hundreds and thousands of articles, websites and TV shows that are dedicated to the endless quest to achieve that ‘perfect body.’
But what about guys?
It seems men are ignored or dismissed in this avalanche of body beautiful literature.
But just like women, men too are plagued by countless insecurities regarding certain parts of their bodies.
Skinny arms, chicken legs, dumbo ears, oddly shaped heads, beer guts and big womanly bottoms are all things that can affect a man’s confidence.
And what about hair? Every morning millions of men wake in a panic and sadly count the hairs that have been shed onto their pillows during the night.
And while balding is the cause of much angst, an excessively hairy man (I’m talking Wolverine-style back and shoulders) suffers from looking like he hasn’t evolved from his cave man ancestors.
Perhaps the most upsetting affliction that plagues men’s bodies is the dreaded ‘man boobs’ – also known as ‘man tits’, ‘moobs’ or ‘moobies’.
It’s pretty self-explanatory really. Man boobs occur when chest fat begins to resemble a female breast.
There are two main causes of man boobs. Obviously being overweight puts you at higher risk of developing a larger chest, but a large percentage of males with the problem actually suffer from Gynecomastia – the result of increased oestrogen levels and decreased testosterone levels.
Unfortunately there is no ‘cure’ for Gynecomastia, but there are a number of treatments and in some extreme cases, surgery is an option.
However, if you’re your man boobs are the result of a little too much beer and drive-throughs, the only way to get rid of them is through a pretty rigorous program of diet and exercise.
If that sounds too hard, you can always invest in some shape-wear.
Remember that Seinfeld episode where Kramer developed a man bra called ‘the mansierre’?
Well thanks to the Japanese, the ‘men’s premium brassiere’ exists and you can buy it online at www.wishroom.com – Japan’s premier ‘cute, pop, sexy lingerie shop’.
Earlier this year, Chinese doctors discovered the world’s largest pair of man boobs when a 53 year old dairy farmer rocked up to a specialist breast clinic in Beijing.
Apparently locals used to queue up at his farm to point and laugh at his moobies, forcing him to wear a heavy coat even during the warmest weather.
This behaviour is typical of top heavy gents.
A man with moobs may have reclusive tendencies and will be reluctant to remove his shirt despite the temperature or situation.
You will never see a moobed man strolling shirtless up Chapel Street or soaking up the rays at the Fitzroy or Prahran pools.
However, there are a number of men who are bucking the trend.
Instead of hiding their chests under oversized shirts, they have embraced their marvellous man boobs and can be seen flaunting them unashamedly in various states of undress.
Jack Nicholson was famously photographed tucking into a souvlaki while sitting on a yacht, hairy old man boobs proudly on display.
Simon Cowel has been snapped sunning his curvy chest and David Hasselhoff is often seen around town with his sweaty chest heaving under a ribbed singlet.
Perhaps these gentlemen are onto something, oversized man mammaries do have their advantages.
They can be a pillow for your loved-one’s head, they can keep your chest toasty warm during the winter months and they make you more buoyant – almost like a human life-raft.
According to various sources, around 40 per cent of men will experience having man boobs at some point in their life.
With this in mind ladies, it’s time to start thinking up a decent answer to the question, “Do my moobs look big
in this?”