Ryan's Secret show brings awareness to male body positivity
Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 6 months AGO
NEW YORK (AP) — The debate over unrealistic body ideals for women is a long-standing one, but the same discussion over expectations for men hasn't reached the same cultural pitch.
That was the motivation behind Ryan's Secret, a different kind of show at New York Fashion Week that featured plus size men proudly baring skin.
"Especially being a big guy myself, going for job interviews, if you're not looking like some studly guy, sometimes you don't get the job. Just like Barbie has the same issues, Ken has even more,” said 36-year-old Joseph Diaz, one of the models at Wednesday night's show.
Diaz walked in black embellished bicycle shorts and a matching cape for the gods-themed show.
Ryan's Secret creative director and designer Myriam Chalek wanted to bring awareness to young men who experience depression and commit suicide because of body shaming and bullying. She also pointed to steroid abuse and men who submit themselves to punishing gym routines to attain superhero bodies.
The message was clear: End male body shaming.
“Yeah, I'm body positive, I think it's a good message to show people that you love your body, you love yourself,” said model Daniel Jean. "You know it's hard out there the way the media portrays you, you know, especially when you're a big guy.”
Jean walked in royal purple satin. He was among 15 plus size men to participate.
ARTICLES BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hong Kong police arrest 4 from university student union
HONG KONG (AP) — Four members of a Hong Kong university student union were arrested Wednesday for allegedly advocating terrorism by paying tribute to a person who stabbed a police officer and then killed himself, police said.
For South Sudan mothers, COVID-19 shook a fragile foundation
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Paska Itwari Beda knows hunger all too well. The young mother of five children — all of them under age 10 — sometimes survives on one bowl of porridge a day, and her entire family is lucky to scrape together a single daily meal, even with much of the money Beda makes cleaning offices going toward food. She goes to bed hungry in hopes her children won’t have to work or beg like many others in South Sudan, a country only a decade old and already ripped apart by civil war.
For South Sudan mothers, COVID-19 shook a fragile foundation
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Paska Itwari Beda knows hunger all too well. The young mother of five children — all of them under age 10 — sometimes survives on one bowl of porridge a day, and her entire family is lucky to scrape together a single daily meal, even with much of the money Beda makes cleaning offices going toward food. She goes to bed hungry in hopes her children won’t have to work or beg like many others in South Sudan, a country only a decade old and already ripped apart by civil war.