Many, many articles these days focus on the insecurities and body confidence issues of women and quite rightly so – it’s an important issue. What is a little less publicised however, is the insecurities of men.

Men are notoriously bad at opening up and sharing their feelings, it’s just not considered to be very manly is it? Sometimes you’ll come across a guy who has well and truly messed up a relationship through questionable, shady behaviour, but once you actually drag out an honest explanation from him you often find there’s quite a deep-rooted reason for what they’ve done. That’s not to excuse all ‘acts of man’ of course, but it’s amazing what you find out from a guy once they do open up.

When I was younger I would never talk to anyone about how I was feeling which usually led to punching walls, breaking phones and generally embarrassing myself with my often excessive moods. Making a conscious decision to be more open about stuff was one of the best things I ever did. Of course we can never generalise all men or all of any group for that matter but based on some of my own experiences here are a few of what I have found to the greatest insecurities of men.

Body Confidence 

Yep guys get it too. As I said before this issue is usually centred around women and I would never take away from that but guys suffer similar issues as well.

There is a huge gym culture that has taken over the UK in the last eighteen months and with it comes a new found pressure to look good that I have never seen in my lifetime before.

As a guy I know that sometimes I’ll have a workout at home and feel pretty good about myself but then I’ll go into work and feel like the smallest man on the planet. I’ve never been one to get too hung up on other people’s opinions but you can’t help feeling slightly envious of some of the bigger guys floating around.

One thing I do find funny, however, is the guys who have worked out so much that their arms don’t quite hang down by their sides properly and they kind of waddle around like a penguin. Surely I’m not the only one who doesn’t think that looks good?

Careers 

Usually women are the sensible ones who think about careers, and family and the future but guys get anxious about these things too. They perhaps just put it off a little longer than they should.

Having any job is of course what matters, however, if you have some serious career goals it’s easy to become frustrated and anxious if you’re not quite where you want to be on the career ladder.

At one point in my life my mum was an occupational therapist, my dad an ambulance man and my sister a nurse, and me? Well I worked in a call centre and as much as I was out there making money like everyone else, I couldn’t help but feel like the family black sheep.

Who her ex-boyfriend is?

Everyone has a past unfortunately and it’s only natural to compare your partner to the person whose shoes they filled – or didn’t fill. I used to be particularly immature about this when I was a teenager, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t handle the thought of someone I liked being in certain situations (or positions) with other people. As you get older I don’t think this stuff bothers us any less, we just learn to deal with it better.

Bedroom stuff – It doesn’t matter how good your last girlfriend said you were, because you’re new girlfriend might like something completely different. Once brought to our attention, guys often overthink this which usually leads to being caught in two minds and ultimately an awkward, naked, tangled mess of a moment. All I’m saying is don’t judge someone on the initial performance, there’s a lot of sussing out to do at both ends – no pun intended.

So these are what I would say are the most common insecurities of men. Guys are often berated for their behaviour and a lot of the time it’s justified, but sometimes they just need someone to talk to. Girls if you think your man is hiding something calmly try and get it out be the positive change you were looking for.