If there’s any body image phrase that’s suddenly popped up in your face, and is all over the place (pardon the usage) it’s definitely the “Dad Bod”. If you just said “Dad Bod what?” it is a phrase (okay, daddy body if it must be expanded) that has gone viral on the Internet these last two weeks, and has everyone up in arms trying to define, defend, celebrate, shoot down, rationalise, snort at, or pooh-pooh it.
“Dad Bod” came into focus when 19-year-old American Mackenzie Pearson of Clemson University published the essay “Why Girls Love The Dad Bod” on March 30 on The Odyssey, a micro publishing website. Among other things, she wrote: “The dad bod is a nice balance between a beer gut and working out. The dad bod says, ‘I go to the gym occasionally, but I also drink heavily on the weekends and enjoy eating eight slices of pizza at a time.’ It is not an overweight guy, but it isn’t one with washboard abs, either.”
Almost every other man you know qualifies? That is probably why there has been such an overwhelming response to the phrase.
Soon photographs of Hollywood stars with dad bods were splashed about — Jon Hamm in Mad Men , Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam Sandler at their barest best on the beach, jelly bellies popping over towels and swimming trunks. Alec Baldwin and Russell Crowe were listed.
India too didn’t get left behind, with Indian celeb and non-celeb dad bods being bandied about in pride. The twitterverse took it upon itself to make sure everyone was listening. Soon men were welcoming and celebrating what had been looked down upon in an age of competitive Bollywood rippling six-packs. Dad Bod selfies were proudly posted. Some women pitched in, saying they liked their men pudgy. Some angrily, and logically, demanded — “what about the mom bod? Why aren’t we celebrating that?”
It sounds like perverse sexual politics, says Aparna Jain, integral coach and author. She came in for a vicious attack on Twitter when she tweeted: “This ‘dadbod’ is allowance for men to look ‘normal’ while the pressures on moms to look slim is still huge in society #SubtleSexism.” Aparna explains: “No one excuses a mom’s body – the advertising industry, the beauty industry – everyone expects her to be perfect. A woman feels pressurised to look a certain way after she goes through childbirth, breastfeeding and so much more. What has a dad done to get his ‘Dad Bod’? It is such a misnomer! It’s just an easy way for men to call themselves cool.” Aparna also expresses her apprehension, saying it is rather creepy that a teenage girl has coined the sexually-explicit term for an older man.
Dads in India wanted to have their happy say. Vinay Tharakan, a 40-plus chartered accountant, and father of a nine-year-old, who admits “yeah I do have a paunch”, explains his take on this new-age phrase. “I guess it is one of those words that just crops up and it becomes a fad, like say ‘metro-sexual’ or ‘bromance.’ As for ‘dad bod’, it happens due to a combination of factors. If you are a dad with a tiny-tot going to school, the obvious presumption is that you are middle-aged. That means the late night beer and chicken tikka tends to show up around your waist because your metabolism has slowed down. Plus, you are strapped for time in the mornings and so the regular two-round walk around the lake becomes just one round, the minutes in the gym are shortened, and you pile on those wretched tyres around your waistline. And if ‘dad bod’ makes it sound acceptable and stylish, so be it. Some consolation that...”
If any one knows what men are thinking about their bodies, ask people in the fitness business. It is in the gym that the confessions tumble, and the desperate efforts to stay in shape are made. Gemhson.J., a 28-year-old personal trainer at Steve’s Gym in HBR Layout, says that while earlier men above 35 turned to the gym, that age bar has come down to 25. He dismisses the Dad Bod phrase, saying there are more serious issues underlying that tubby body that men need to be looking at; chuck the attractiveness theory. “I believe that only about 30 per cent of men think that even if they are not fit, they are attractive. They believe their face and money make a difference, not the body. It is finally health concerns that drive men to the gym. Most guys walk in worried that otherwise they will have a heart attack.” He also explains how the Dad Bod comes about — a sedentary life with no exercise, bad eating habits and sluggish metabolism, makes your ‘core’ weak. Once the core (your back) is weak, the stomach muscles pull out and you have a paunch, he points out.
On May 11, the same Mackenzie who created Dad Bod, wrote “The Mom Bod: When We Love Our Bodies, So Will Society” but the world didn’t seem to take notice; we are all still obsessing with the Dad Bod.
