Does body shape mirror your success?

What is the psychology behind myth that chubby and bespectacled men are equated with success?

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Your question has brought a welcome smile to my face, in these rather difficult Covid-19 days! It has also brought to mind the biblical story of the rich fool, which appears in Luke 12 verse 16-21.

According to Jesus, a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of the things that he possesses. The rich (perhaps chubby) fool thought he had accumulated enough belongings to give him a long and happy life full of joy, but that very night his soul was wanted of him from the one who gave it to him.

In popular literature, obese people are often shown as being happy consumers of money, while those with a mean and hungry look are described by the giant of literature Shakespeare as the opposite.

From reading this biblical passage, one can picture a chubby middle aged man, perhaps bespectacled sitting in his veranda on a farmhouse, ready to consume the fruits of his labour! He might even be smoking an expensive cigar with a large bottle of wine by his side.

As the Bible tells us, the man has plans to eat, drink and be merry. These are the exact activities that will make him chubby and make him seem, as your question suggests, a man “who has arrived”. He has, according to his plans no worries in his life.

Sadly for him, his maker has different plans.

In general the practice of psychology is full of historical myths that underscore many levels of ignorance over the years.

For example, when we trained as psychiatrists in the70s, we read texts that suggested that people with a thin body frame were more likely to suffer from schizophrenia than the short chubby people who were said to be more likely to suffer from bipolar mood disorder.

That is what was taught in those early days.

That is now an old story and we no longer believe that the shape of the body tells us anything about health, disease or indeed failure or success.

That said, there are a number of things that your question brings to mind, if only because some are generally unknown, and others because they are of some relevance to all. Two examples will suffice.

Many years ago, we saw a boy in his late teens that had what is called, a body dysmorphic disorder. He believed that his nose was somehow distorted. His family said it was a perfect nose.

He visited a number of ENT surgeons who examined him, did all manner of X-Rays and tried to convince him that his nose was fine. The more they told him this, the more he was sure they were wrong.

Eventually, an elderly ENT surgeon with much experience sent him to us with a simple note; “Kindly tell this spoilt brat there is nothing wrong with his nose… he is driving me crazy! ”

The diagnosis was simple and not in doubt, but the treatment was more difficult. For the next year or two he, his father and two cats travelled the world in search of a doctor who could “fix his nose”.

None could, because there was nothing physically wrong with his nose. It was all in his mind!

Another group of people with mental illness that revolves around the shape of the body are a group of people known to suffer from anorexia nervosa. The condition is common in the West and mostly affects girls.

In this condition, the patient holds the view that she is very fat, and needs to lose weight. She therefore struggles to lose weight by eating very little if at all, does much exercise, and causes herself to vomit and have loose motions by using laxatives.

When shown pictures of her ?very thin body, she still insists that she is fat, and needs to lose even more weight. This is a mental illness that causes many deaths in the West.

At the other extreme of body shape and size are the so called traditional wives of rich chiefs. In the traditional sense, a chief’s sphere of influence is determined by the number and size of the wives that he has. It was inconceivable to have the wife of a chief being a thin woman.

In a similar traditional way, big men were leaders, and thin men their servants!

In the 21st century, the story has changed and physical exercise and fitness are held in high premium. Strong muscular people are admired because of the promise of a long life.

The bottom line, therefore, is that body shape and size have traditionally had a place in the psychology of man, but this has changed meaning over time.