You've probably heard all of the headlines. 'How to get the perfect beach body!' or 'Top 10 tips for the six-pack of your dreams'. We see more and more of them every day, and I have one word to describe every single last one of them:

Sickening.

Young men are blasted with expectations from society that they have to look 'fit' or 'cool' or 'cute' just because people like a bit of eye candy. For example, the perfect beach body. What does it actually mean? Rippling abs? Tanned skin? Sun-bleached hair that resembled the dried-out grasses in the sand dunes? An in-built parasol that pops up when you step onto the beach? We are bombarded by expectations of a prestiged beauty most of us can only dream of. Society, take off your spray tan-tinted glasses and take a look at the real world. Because of your high beauty standards set by influencers and celebrities, 1 in 5 men feel insecure about the way they look. 1 in 20 self-harm as a result of not feeling attractive enough and 1 in 25 suicides are a result of these high demands from society to look attractive. 

Social media doesn't make the issue any better. 'Love Island' is a reality show about attractive people falling in love on an island. It turns nobodies into somebodies. These premises sound great until you realise most of the contestants seem to share half a brain cell and have the mental capacity of a cabbage. All the producers care about is that they look good, and this is a very negative statement to be putting across to young men. They see these unreachable bronzed gods walking around in skimpy clothing and desire their physiques. These people then try to duplicate those looks by following various guides in magazines and develop eating disorders, depression and an assortment of other ailments as a result. Imagine scholars throwing away their futures to resemble a braindead bimbo, and actually being supported by society in this process! It's unhealthy, unnatural and disgusting. It needs to stop!

These shows have even driven some young men to permanently alter their bodies in order to be accepted by society. Thousands of innocent, vulnerable young men dragged into the inescapable wretched whirlpool of surgeries and implants with the aim of being accepted into an ever-changing society where one fad is relevant one day and has disintegrated the next. But these changes are permanent. They don't fly away with the fad. They stay. That tattoo? An eternal pattern of ink etched into your flesh. That piercing? Just a hole in your body that not many find attractive. That implant? A lump of plastic in your cheek or backside. Wake up world!

To end this little rant, I'd like to propose a small but powerful statement:

These expectations cause men to focus on their outer beauty, neglecting their true beauty inside. Society should stop focussing on how people look, and focus on how they act and feel; develop these beauties, the true side of the human race.