Shawn Mendes struggled with body dysmorphia after topless photoshoot

[Teletubby 132,523]

Shawn Mendes revealed that previously stripping off for Calvin Klein left him with ‘body dysmorphia through trying to be that person all the time’.
‘I was shirtless on a billboard. Any shoot where you’re basically “sexy” in any way can really mess with your psyche because you’re struggling every day to live up to that guy.’
‘The lighting was there, you have makeup and a hairstylist there. People are there to make you look amazing. But realistically, you can’t really fit the shoes of that person in that photo — even as that person.’
‘It’s interesting because I know that there’s a lot of struggle in comparison culture.‘It’s important for me to say that even as the person in the photo, I can’t be the person in the photo. So, striving to be that person is not fair to anybody.’


Shawn Mendes even warned Camila Cabello (his girlfriend) not to get excited.
‘I ran down from the shoot being like, “Damn, these photos are really awesome but I can’t live up to that guy!” And that was the first thing I told her and she understood that completely.’

 

He admitted comparing himself to other artists and struggles with the internet’s validation culture.
‘Last night it broke me and I was like, “I’m not going to go on Instagram at all. I need rehab from social media for a week”,’


He has been going to therapy twice a week and trying ‘different types’ to deal with his struggles.
 ‘You have to be really open and okay with being messed up sometimes. That’s when you start to make serious progress.’

source

[qoqo 3,151]

I don’t wanna see any dismissing posts in this thread

This is his experience and he has no reason for being insincere 

[hELXIG 41,347]

It's about time we start having serious conversations about men's body image standards and mental health 

[flyaway 15,350]

First of all, he's a musician. I really don't get why do they want to sell him as a playboy, when music is his main priority.

Ok, I get that sex sells and that when your work is not that groundbreaking it can be benefical for record sales to go and sell your body, but these are the consequences. He's a human being that's being exploited for something he may not have asked for. And it's even worse in this instagramned world that holds some nearly impossible standards of beauty. 

Truly a conversation to have. 

[NewUsername 10,916]

Another proof that you can have the "considered to be perfect" body and still experience body dysmorphia. 

What I do find interesting though, is that, to me, he ACTUALLY looks more muscled and buff and fit and all that in his beach candid shots than in that CK shoot.

[Bradley 56,747]

2 minutes ago, flyaway said:

First of all, he's a musician. I really don't get why do they want to sell him as a playboy, when music is his main priority.

I mean professions often entail more than one job description. It's not only about singing or making music.

[flyaway 15,350]

1 minute ago, Bradley said:

I mean professions often entail more than one job description. It's not only about singing or making music.

I know. But what does have his passion have to do with selling underwear? Did he really ask for it? 

That's the problem when artists are forced to be a perfect image for people and get into stuff just to sell. Then they end up being treated as sex objects, when their main passion is something else.  

A different case is if you are willing to expose yourself because you like it, it's fine. Like Madonna getting naked on a sex book, she wanted to do that. The approach is different. 

[Bradley 56,747]

Just now, flyaway said:

I know. But what does have his passion have to do with selling underwear? Did he really ask for it? 

That's the problem when artists are forced to be a perfect image for people and get into stuff just to sell. Then they end up being treated as sex objects, when their main passion is something else.  

A different case is if you are willing to expose yourself because you like it, it's fine. Like Madonna getting naked on a sex book, she wanted to do that. The approach is different. 

Well I think as an artist or just as a human being in general we are prone to try out different things. It doesn't necessarily mean we fully understand how we would feel after a particular endeavour. That's just part of life isn't it, trying out new things and then thinking back on whether the experience was worth it. Maybe he won't do it again in the future, but he had to do it to know.

[js4754394o9823 6,882]

31 minutes ago, Lady Ava Gaga Max said:

It’s interesting because I know that there’s a lot of struggle in comparison culture.‘It’s important for me to say that even as the person in the photo, I can’t be the person in the photo. So, striving to be that person is not fair to anybody.’

Not doing those photos at all would be better than saying they are fake

But good 4 him for speaking up

[ShayCristoforo 10,468]

He wasn’t aware of the consequences when he signed up for it, so I sympathize.

It’s a slippery slope. Presenting a popularized body image is a curse in a way. 

[The Child 18,997]

People are dying. No one forced him to make those photos.

EDIT: okay guys I’m so sorry, I sincerely apologize, I saw this as him being a crybaby but I read it again and thanks to all of your posts, I now realize how insensitive and wrong I was.

[AURAOFSHEISSE 6,515]

But doesn’t he have the means to look like that all the time

[NewUsername 10,916]

10 minutes ago, The Child said:

People are dying. No one forced him to make those photos.

I understand what you mean, but actually we have no way of knowing if he was pressured to do this partnership or not.

[Noah 26,500]

To be honest, as a Male Celebrity with a dominant young girl fanbase - you‘re probably always under pressure to look attractive, hot, have abs etc. I‘m not surprised at all he felt like it was a challenge to live up to the photoshopped version of himself. I‘m sending lots of love to him and hope that in future shots he can only do as much as he feels comfortable with his body + has gathered help from a therapist (because I honestly think every celebrity should have one, just for their health). 

[Hebi 13,928]

I suffer from this and it feels really awful. So I get how difficult it must be for him to see himself in such public pictures ... I feel sorry for him