Wish you could take a good topless selfie without those damn flabs getting in the way? 😩 Well, we have a solution for you- Exercise! Lol, just kidding, but here’s an app to help!
Available on the App Store, the (controversially named) ‘Manly’ app allows its users to choose from a wide variety of different features to edit their body shots. Here are some of these features the app provides to help YOU look like a shirtless (and drool-worthy) Channing Tatum! 😍
1. Glowing clear skin
Still got those acne scars and marks puberty hit you with? ☹ No worries! The manly app allows you to clear out your skin as well as remove any blemishes or marks you may have, to leave you looking fresh and smooooooooth. 😎
2. Become beardiful
Been dreaming about the perfect rugged beard look but your face won’t cooperate? Manly’s got you covered! 😯 Choose from various different styles of hairdos, mustaches and beards and find the picture-perfect (literally) combination to achieve that natural, suave glamour. 👨
3. Channel your inner Tatum
And now the highlight of the app – the instant bodybuilding! 💪 Choose from a number of different options to add on and/or define your chest, pecs, abs, and biceps. What more? The app even offers the option to make users seem taller!
4. Tattoos
Feeling extra wild? 🤪 ‘Manly’ allows you to choose from a number of realistic “chic and cool” tattoos that can be placed on your body with ease. Feeling particularly snazzy? Add accessories and colored contacts of your choice too!
While most people view the app as harmless fun, some body-positive activists have been quick to lash out. 🤬 “A lot of people think body image struggles only affect women, but we’ve seen an increasing number of men desperately trying to live up to the male beauty ideal that we constantly see across the media and advertising- a ‘fit, ribbed and bulky’ body,” Denise Hatton, co-founder of the Be Real Campaign, told The Independent. 😲
“Apps like Manly play into the damaging narrative that to be considered an attractive man, you need to look a certain way, making it extremely toxic for impressionable young men. Just when we finally started to see progress with brands becoming more responsible through their advertising and reducing excessive airbrushing, then comes along an app like Manly. 🤷 This app and others like it are a massive step backwards in creating a society that is less focused on appearance and more about who we are.”
Regardless of this ‘dark side’ of an otherwise humorous app, one can’t deny that this app is surely an easy way for iPhone users to sit back, relax, and leave the gym for another day! 🤣 Watch the video below to see how the app works.
What do you think of the app? Just harmless fun or contributing to unrealistic beauty standards? Let us know in the comments below. 🤗
Written and Researched by Najah Bashir
