Missing Men

Photo Credit: dadadreams (Michelle Lanter) via Compfight cc

In my never ending quest for new blogs to follow (and perhaps share) I stumbled upon a site labeling itself the "Top 10 Bariatric Bloggers". Feel free to take a look, it won't take long. Now, the site itself is a bariatric surgery clinic in Lithuania, and they are certainly free to determine whoever they think are the most relevant of those of us who blog about this. But, looking over their list, I can't help but notice something...

Every single one of these bloggers is a woman.

Now, good on you gals, for being willing to share your experiences with the world. But, once again I must ask - where the hell are the men?

Now, science is not on my side here - according to UC San Diego, only 20% of the patients undergoing bariatric surgery are male. But, shouldn't that mean that at least 1 or 2 of the top bloggers are men? What the heck, dudes - are you too ashamed to talk about it? Obesity is an epidemic that is killing both women and men in our country - why are only the women doing something about it?

I wonder if it has something to do with "power culture". Men in our society are conditioned to not acknowledge pain and suffering, and obesity certainly comes with plenty of that. Also, men are still allowed to project power even if they are overweight - James Gandolfini in the Sopranos and Vincent D'Onofrio in Daredevil spring immediately to mind in terms of recent media portrayal of big, powerful men. So, if size projects power for men, maybe men don't want to talk about becoming smaller?

Hell, I don't know. I am way in over my head with this psycho-analysis stuff. All I know is I am unhealthy, and talking about it on the Internet. Every day I see lots of other men who are also obese - some larger than me, hard as that is to believe. But I am not seeing my half of the species representing out here in the blogosphere. I don't know why that is, and, frankly, it makes me a little uncomfortable. When you have been as fat as I am for as long as I have, you have some pretty serious questions about your masculinity due to the side effects of your weight. Maybe I am only blogging because I am lacking in some other masculine virtue that would otherwise tell me to keep my mouth shut?

If that is the case, so be it. I will happily join the ladies who are brave enough to take charge of their health and talk about it to the rest of the world. This disease is killing just as many men as it is women, and only a fraction of the guys are investigating and implementing bariatric surgery as a solution. So, seriously, hermanos - if you have any questions about this whole Gastric Sleeve thing, slip me an email here at tjeremyschofield at gmail.com. Take charge of your health. I promise it'll be our little secret.

Waiting For The Overflowing Mailbox,

- Hawkwind