Brendan Fraser? No Way. But...

[hawthorne]

...this business of Brendan Fraser having something going on seems highly improbable to me as well.  I also begin to wonder at the notion of what qualifies one as literally having Gynecomastia as opposed to...yes, BDD...or for that matter simply having a body image that is not sufficient to meet one's own expectations.  If, for example, I had ears that stuck out "too far" I don't know if I'd consider that I had neurofibromatosis (what John Merrick, aka "The Elephant Man", had).  

After having spent some time here, it further seems to me that many of the gents who find their way here are seeking some corroborating opinion on whether they do or do not have a "problem."  I don't expect that to ever stop; it's why I showed up, but...the relevance of someone else's opinion on whether I have a "problem" seems, on my part at least, to have its foundation in some fairly specious reasoning.  I guess what I'm saying is that I can't base my estimation of a non-life threatening circumstance on the opinions of people looking at a couple of pictures of me, or on whether or not some celebrity figure looks like I do.  I must needs base my estimation of myself on my estimation of...well...myself.  I also feel like if I had (let's be metaphorically extreme and absurd)...HIV...and I was in a support group that had a handful of folks saying, "So I've been under the weather for a while, but I don't want to talk to my doctor, and I can barely run 10 miles like I used to...do you guys think I have it?", I'd probably think they were asking a silly question.

Look, my intent is not to diminish anyone's personal concerns - again, I'm here too - but the constant worrying and scrutinizing ------ and comparing ------ can't be good for anyone.  And, y'know, if I were (please allow me, John, if you will) someone who had at one point an actual, whatever, 38 A cup size...I'd be a bit exasperated by a bunch of guys who don't like their nipple shape rollin' up on my set.

But in the spirit of fairness, I include the following links.  This guy is called Jesse Metcalfe.  He's on "Desperate Housewives."  And he works out at my gym.  I sort of noticed him and his chest there, and after seeing the Brendan Fraser post, was inspired to see if I could offer a celebrity comparison that makes a tiny, slight bit more sense.  Do I think the kid has a problem?  No.  I don't.  But here's the thing...with these pics I found, and having seen him a lot in person...he has more of a situation than a lot of the guys I see posting pics of themselves on this site.  There's even a couple of sites with pics of him that say things like, "Look at Jesse's man boobs."  And I feel reasonably confident he doesn't think about it too too much.  Perhaps we all have just too much free time/suspect self-esteem.  And to that end, I feel like being done talking about, looking at, and looking for pictures of dudes' chests.  So I'm gonna go out for the evening.  And perhaps spend some time looking at my lady friend's chest.  I wish you all the same. (Or fellas, if that's your hang.  No judge, no judge.)  A playa must, in fact, play.  Baller must ball.  Etc.

Discuss, agree, disagree, call me a jack-ass, whatever.

Peace, kids.

http://barefoot.provocateuse.com/show/jesse_metcalfe

http://beautiful.blogs.com/beautiful/images/jesse_metcalfe8_1.jpg

http://www.geekimages.com/pics/20050619/Jesse%20Metcalfe.jpg

[headheldhigh01]

i'm personally gonna skip the pics, i don't care about any celebrity unless he comes here asking an honest question.  

the constant worrying and scrutinizing ------ and comparing ------ can't be good for anyone

worrying, no, but that's just a fact, it happens.  when i first noticed mine, i freaked, and i doubt i'm the exception.  scrutinizing:  that's just going to happen as a result.  comparing:  most people don't, they just want to figure out if this is what they have or not.  i didn't need to ask anyone's opinion when i came here, i knew for certain what i had was gyne once i learned what it was.  nothing here is medical advice, you're just going to get people saying what they think and why, and they mostly understand with a message board, that's all you get.  they take it, the veil of mystery gets lifted, they're better prepared to deal with it.  

myself i think that's a good thing.  

[STILLgotIT]

If anything, those look like pec implants (maybe).  

[Hypo-is-here]

Too much analysing going on over mens chests and it smacks of BDD or at least hypersensitivitity to the issue.

Gynecomastia is NOT having some glandular mass in the chest- all men have this to some extent.

Gynecomastia is when there is so much glandular mass or a combination of glandular mass and excess fat that the chest/pectorals take on a female breast like appearance.

None of those men remotely fit that bill.

Not one woman would think any of those guys had a problem and most likely none of those guys think they have a problem.....because there isn't a problem and there isn't gynecomastia!

If people think that is gynecomastia and it is remotely similar to the amount of glandular mass they have themselves then they have BDD and need to see a different type of specialist to sort the problem out.

[Worrier]

On a side note from those pics on jesse medcalfe Iam not even sure he has it to be honest.Although I do think his lower pecs look a little bit over developed, they even look slightly uneven though it may be the camera angle.
Which might be why it is a bit confusing.I'm hair splitting as usual

Brendon Fraser looked to me like he had a very slight case in my opinion.When I glanced over the pics. Nothing to write homeabout and Iam sure the ladies couldn't give a stuff.

I actually saw a pic of a  young late teenage arnie in my gym and I noticed that one side of his chest looked a bit unsymmetrical and even looked like he had a very small bit of excess fat on one side.Point is if you put someone under a microscope even someone of such physical perfection as arnie you can find a slight flaw. Especially chests as naturally we are all a bit different.

I have noticed though that even guys who don't have gyne but just work out and have built up pecs sometimes get a bit of ribbing about their chests. Mostly from guys with sunken chests ;)Iam sure they could get a complex from it. I myself have a rugby player type build and a barrel chest and before I had the gyne experience I was totally fine with it.

Gyne is gyne and men are totally justified in wanting something done about it and this site is a great resource . But you can overscrutinize yourself and that isn't good either and it's good to be reminded of that. And hypo 's right BDD is no cakewalk either.