sexisnottheenemy:

“In sixth grade, the same year that puberty hit me with irrevocable force, I had an art teacher, Mr. Blake. (This dates me: few public middle schools have art teachers anymore.) I’ll never forget his solemn declaration that great artists all acknowledged that the female form was more beautiful than the male. He made a passing crack that “no one wants to see naked men, anyway”—and the whole class laughed. “Ewwww,” a girl sitting next to me said, evidently disgusted at the thought of a naked boy. In time, I discovered that Mr. Blake was wrong about this so-called artistic consensus. But it took me a lot longer to unlearn the damage done by remarks like his and by the conventional wisdom of my childhood. I came into puberty convinced both that my male body was repulsive and that the girls for whom I longed were flawless.”

—

Men are dirty and disgusting, women are pure and flawless. Right? — The Good Men Project Magazine

Wait, what? Seriously? Seriously?! Oh my gosh! This is so heartbreaking. I think I need to remember that men have body/self-image issues too, even more than I already do, because I know that as a woman, I’ve been envious of how men are presented in the media, meaning as able to be loved regardless of their body or personality, and women never are. I know that men I know struggle with self-worth too, but reading something like this just makes me realize how far we still have to go. Sexism effects everyone.