I am sick of seeing pictures of very thin women and girls demonstrating weighted moves and active wear. I have nothing against thin women, and I understand that body image issues abound among thin women as they do amongst others. But where is the variety? Where are the women with muscle tone? Where are the models of a corresponding age to the audience of the magazine? and where are the fit women, who are not ultra thin?
I am sick of seeing images of women in fitness magazines wearing make up, and clothes that resemble something you may see worn at a nightclub, and that bring the readers’ focus to the sexual appeal of the model, rather than the model’s strength, her form and the aim of the move. I mean high heels? Spangles? Slitted pants? At the gym? Really?
I am sick of fitness literature aimed at women in which articles all too often focus on losing weight, achieving a slim body, targeting ‘problem areas’, losing ‘belly fat’, becoming sexy, getting a ‘bikini body’ or getting set for summer, reducing thighs, and avoiding ‘bulking up’.
I am sick of hearing women say, “I would wear that if I could get away with it”, or “I’m too fat to go to the gym”, or “I don’t want to bulk up”, or “I’m not young enough to stay fit” and knowing that underneath this is a fear of failure, and belief of their own unattractiveness, and an overall feeling of not-good-enough-ness.
And lastly, I myself, with years of gym going and weight lifting, buckets of public sweat, and degree in Gender Studies, am sick of these same doubts arising in my head from time to time, of having days when I am overly conscious of the way my body looks during my workout, and of the occasional manic session of weighing and measuring, as if those numbers somehow contribute to my worth, my good-enough-ness.
So, what am I going to do about it all?
Well, I don’t plan on posting my workouts, or meals or any of that stuff, so don’t worry! What I would like to do is open some discussion about feminist perspectives on fitness, name and shame those that contribute to the cycle of women’s oppression via body image, and give mad props to those who try to make a change.
so hopefully you’ll see:
- Derogatory, unrealistic or otherwise annoying images, with links or addresses to the companies responsible (yes, I intend for you to take some action)
- Links to articles, books and forums that cover feminist fitness topics, and some critique of them.
- Some positive images of women in fitness (if I can find any!)
- Discussion of other issues in fitness, such as women only gyms, pole dancing and strip fitness, weights vs aerobics, gym wear, targeting 'problem areas'and anything else I think of as time goes on.
So, congratulations on getting this far into my post, and i hope you’ll stick around to comment, and discuss the issues with me.
In solidarity,
Keira
