#FreeToBeUs with Shea Emry

Body dissatisfaction is growing at an alarming rate and what is even more unsettling is that these issues and concerns don’t discriminate. Three leading minds in the fight against this modern day public health concern have teamed up to spread awareness about the issue. Former Canadian football player and men’s mental health advocate Shea Emry has teamed up with award winning documentary filmmaker Elena Rossini and Renae Regehr, founder of the Canadian non-profit Free To Be Talks, to put the spotlight on an issue that is rarely discussed: boys and body image. This video dives into how and why idealized male bodies are impacting our boy’s self-esteem and self-image. The video sheds light on media literacy and how it can be utilized to help fight these unrealistic expectations. Free To Be Us invites viewers to take a stand by destigmatizing the narrative around boys and body image.

thank you to everyone who made this video possible:

Directed & Edited by: Elena Rossini Writer: Renae Regehr Narrator: Shea Emry Special Thanks: Joanna Brewster, Erin Treolar, Andrea Wilk, Nathaniel Torok, Kate Bucaro, Jaydon Brewster, Henry Askew, James Askew, Ver Jauhar, Jonathon Wu, Melody Zhao, Jonny Dawes, Liam Dawes, Brianna Dyck, Amirali Taji

Download this video on YouTube here.
Find our press release here.

Join the movement

Join us and help our boys become all they can be.
#freetobeus

Spread the movement. Use the hashtag #freetobeus and share this page, our video, an image that means something to you, or any of the still images we’ve provided below on your socials. Share why this message matters to you. Let’s make waves!

Would you like to share this with a media outlet? Find our press release here.

DONATE

Join the movement. Feel called to help make the Free To Be program more accessible to more kids? Head here to donate. Any amount is greatly appreciated.
Want to do more? Head here to learn more about becoming a Free To Be Partner.

As a registered non-profit, all funding goes directly to research for the program, program materials, training our facilitators, and providing schools with increased access to the program.

Why does this matter?

Approx. 50% of girls and boys age 6 – 12 years old are dissatisfied with their bodies.
Boys concerns tend to have a functional focus (e.g. desiring leaner muscularity, and wishing specific body parts such as their shoulders, arms, biceps to have a greater functional use), whereas girls concerns typically have an aesthetic focus.
Recent studies are revealing disparities among sexual minority boys with higher reports of body image concerns and higher patterns of disordered eating behaviour and appearance management strategies.
Males with eating disorders are often suffering with other conditions anxiety, depression, substance abuse, or excessive exercise.
A survey of over 650, 13-18 year boys revealed the four biggest sources of pressures for boys to look good came from first from friends (68%), then social media (57%), followed by advertising (53%), and celebrities (49%).
A recent study published in BMC Public Health following adolescents ages 10-15, found younger age usage of high social media negatively impacted girls well-being in older ages, but not boys. While boys decreased in well being as well, there was a lack of association with social media which led the researchers to postulate other unknown factors are impacting adolescent male youth.

*Scroll to bottom of page to see list of references.

Who we are

Shea Emry is a 2x grey cup champion and All-Star Middle Linebacker. He was also voted twice as the nastiest players in the Canadian Football League during his 8 year career. Since retiring a few years ago — Shea has transitioned to tackling on a new field: men’s health and development. He is a National Champion for The Canadian Men’s Health Foundation and Bell’s Let’s Talk Campaign.

After a significant concussion in 2011 — Shea founded Wellmen, an action based men’s adventure club that proves being a ‘real man’ is about being a balanced man; no tear, grunt, or hard work left out.

Renae Regehr is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and the founder of Free To Be Talks, a non-profit organization that promotes positive body image to youth, parents, and educators through education in schools, speaking events, and media. Through her MA of Counselling Psychology she developed and tested a research-based curriculum, Free To Be. To date, over 2500 boys and girls have gone through the program. Renae is also the co-founder of Care For Women, a non-profit organization that supports and resources new mothers and a contributing blogger for the Huffington Post. Her work has been featured in Time, Darling, Good Men Project, and Everyday Feminism among others.

Elena Rossini is an Italian documentary filmmaker, cultural critic and activist. Rossini's work focuses on issues of social justice, media representation, and the empowerment of women and girls. Her most notable film is the critically acclaimed documentary The Illusionists, about the globalization of beauty ideals, which Rossini shot in eight countries, across four continents. The film has been featured in Vogue Italy, New York Magazine, NPR, FOX and NBC Baltimore, amongst others. Rossini often speaks at international conferences and was selected as Young Leader by the Council for the United States and Italy.

Media: Stills

Feel free to use the images below to share about the #freetobeus movement and what that means to you.

Join us and help our boys become all they can be. #freetobeus

References cited:

Stat 1: Smolak, L. (2011). Body image development in childhood. In T. F. Cash & L. Smolak (Eds.). Body Image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention (2nd ed., pp. 67 –75). New York, NY, USA: Guilford Press.

Stat 2: Ricciardelli, L., & Yager, Z. (2016). Adolescence and body image: From development to preventing dissatisfaction. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Stat 3: Watson, R. J., Adjei, J., Saewyc, E., Homma, Y., & Goodenow, C. (2017). Trends and disparities in disordered eating among heterosexual and sexual minority adolescents. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 50(1), 22-31. doi:10.1002/eat.22576

Stat 4: Bunnell, D. & Maine, M. (2014). Understanding and treating males with eating disorders. In L. Cohn and R Lemberg (Eds.), Current findings on males with eating disorders. New York, NY: Routledge.

Stat 5: A picture of health? (2016). EdComs and CredosThinkTank.

Stat 6: Booker, C. L., Kelly, Y. J., Sacker, A. (2018). Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well being among 10-15 year olds in the UK. BMC Public Health. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5220-4

Additional references:

Lavender, J., Brown, T., & Murray, S. (2018). Men, Muscles, and Eating Disorders: An Overview of Traditional and Muscularity-Oriented Disordered Eating. Full access to article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5731454/