19 Men Go Shirtless And Share Their Body Image Struggles

"No one can tell I have a belly when my shirt is on, so I feel like I'm exposing a secret when my shirt comes off."

From: HuffPost

The fruitless quest for a "perfect" body isn't unique to women, though based on the body image conversations we tend to hear, it's easy to think so.

Rather than obsess over attaining thinness, however, men are more likely than women to consider themselves underweight, and focus on getting more muscle tone, studies suggest. But there is a range of expectations for what a "masculine" body should look like -- and negative associations with the ones that fall short. One study found that men linked being fat with "weakness of will," while being lean and muscular was associated with "feelings of confidence and power in social situations."

According to mental health experts, men may have a harder time accessing communication tools to express their insecurities and work through them. While there's recently been more cultural celebration of a diverse range of body types for men and women, for men to communicate openly about body concerns still carries a stigma.

In an effort to demonstrate that men of all ages and sizes struggle with body image, HuffPost Women photographed 19 men, from those in their 20s to their 60s, without their shirts and spoke candidly with them about their body hang-ups.

Spoiler alert: Men have body insecurities, too, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

"I don't like sitting down with my torso hunched over my legs -- it makes me feel gross the way my stomach reaches over my belt. Similarly, if I have my shirt off, I try to stay lying down or reclined so that my torso is elongated. I also flex my arms and abs almost constantly. The soreness and tension from working out makes me feel better.

I've always wanted a much leaner body type, so even as small as I am, it makes me wish I was thinner. Many of these conversations have brought me to the conclusion that I may have some minor type of dysmorphia."