There has always been a certain amount of pressure applied to women to look good which hasn't been applied to men. The tendency has been to explain it in evolutionary terms with men supposedly attracted to good-looking women because they make the best potential mothers and women attracted to men because of what they can offer them in terms of security for when they decide to have a family. Obviously this is a very simplistic notion which doesn't apply to large swathes of the population, particularly those who do not even want children. There is also the phenomenon of the 'metrosexual' men who are extremely preoccupied with their appearance, not necessarily to attract a mate but to make them feel good about themselves.
It is easy to criticise men for spending abnormal amounts of time on their appearance and hark back to the good old days when men were 'real' men who didn't care what they looked like, but that is a little unfair to men who just want to look good. The only trouble is that what starts out as a choice can soon start to become expected of a person. At the moment men can choose to primp and preen themselves, but how long before societal pressure and the desire to conform means men universally obsess about their appearance?
Obviously this is what the fashion and beauty industries want because it increases the number of potential customers substantially. Products are tailored to men so that they don't have to face the 'embarrassment' of buying women's products. These products are conveniently sold in blue packaging to let people know which products are the boys' and which products are the girls' just in case they didn't realise! Men are confronted with images of people such as David Beckham who always wears stylish clothes and jewellery, who changes his hairstyle more than his wife, and who obviously takes a lot of time over his appearance.
David Beckham is a footballer, though, so of course he is going to have a toned body, and seeing as though his career only has a limited lifespan it makes sense for him to utilise his looks to make money while he still can. Ordinary men don't have as much time to spend looking good, and if they feel comfortable about themselves, why should they bother to anyway? The beauty industry and the media have successfully eroded the self-esteem of many a woman which has led some to contend that it is about time men should see what it feels like, but this does not change the position of women, so it pointless.
In an ideal world all kinds of people, no matter what they looked like, would be able to feel good about themselves, but that doesn't sell beauty products or clothes, now, does it? Men and women should learn to appreciate diversity and to not bow down to pressure to conform, which is clearly easier said than done, but provides the only way forward.