So most girls that have been in the sports game as an adult can't deny that there is a certain amount of pressure to reconcile having the type of body that works well for their sport, while at the same time trying to fit certain gender stereotypes. I feel that pressure. A lot. And while most days I can ignore those pressures, some days it gets to me.
I recently read a piece explaining harassment of women by men, most of whom are complete strangers. It talked about the fact that harassment is not, in fact, about sex, it is about power. I think there also lies a power struggle within the athletic world when it comes to female athletes. Here's how I think that all fits together.
When I quit swimming, I jumped immediately into CrossFit. CrossFit is very much, for now, an adult's sport. It's not a sport kids have grown up practicing for, it just hasn't been around that long. It didn't take very long for me to notice the element of sex that women were trying to piece together with their athleticism. I think the first time I noticed it, I was a spectator at the 2012 Mid-Atlantic regionals. Another athlete, who had been a CrossFitter for some time and was somewhat annoyed with the sexual aspect of the sport, usually kept her shirt on for workouts for that very reason. At regionals, there is usually one particularly long chipper throughout the weekend with a 25ish minute time cap. Inevitably, her body temperature rose, and off came the shirt, out of comfort. Immediately, the manner in which her male judge was counting reps changed. It was almost like he was bored and then he woke up. I'm probably not doing a very good job of describing it, but was very uncomfortable and awkward to watch.
My coach at the time even emphasized the importance of getting sponsors, and that taking your clothes off during workouts was an important aspect of that. The more skin you showed, the more likely you were to get noticed (see Christmas Abbott). This was a very confusing concept for me, since I had grown up wanting to get noticed for my athletic ability (my senior year of high school was filled with doubles and extra training sessions, in hope that a D1 swim coach would notice me). Thinking my coach knew what was best for me, I obliged. And being a swimmer my whole life, being in front of a large crowd with minimal clothes on was old news to me.
A lot of being an adult athlete these days includes a social media presence. And there are two types of female athletes with a large following: ones that have been successful in their respective sport (Julie Foucher), and ones that show a lot of skin (again, Abbott). And I understand there is a certain amount of being a professional athlete can include building a brand, and those two groups are not mutually exclusive.
Here's the tough thing, and this crosses my mind a lot: where do you draw the line? I personally have put a lot of effort into building a brand. White Buffalo Training is my baby. I want to help people become better athletes and better humans. And part of that is me convincing potential clients that I know what I'm talking about, and that I practice what I preach. I've heard from more than one client "I contacted you because you and Greg look great! You guys must be doing something right!" While being a successful weightlifter does NOT mean having the perfect body, for me, being 5'10'', it means staying as lean as possible to still stay in my 75kg/165lb weight class.
Do I monitor what I post on social media? Yes. Most times, before I post something, I ask myself, is this adding to me as an athlete and a brand? Or is this just to put myself out there for the easy likes? If it's the latter, I don't post it, and I try to have an internal pride for how far I've come and how hard I work. Do I decide wrongly sometimes? Probably. Do I sometimes give into the latter option? Probably, especially if I'm having a bad day/week. You can see how posting these types of pictures can be pretty directly linked to low self esteem, or even an immediate need for validation (e.g. you may feel attractive that day, but not feel particularly fulfilled, liked, or loved). But, I'm here to be honest and address something that bothers me pretty regularly, and that is: pressure.
So let's come back to the power struggle. When you or I or anyone else posts a picture that is very obviously sexy or going to evoke a particular response from the male population, we are giving them power over us. The likes we receive as soon as we click "post" are giving an almost exclusively male population power over our success. You can't really argue otherwise. And if you can, I'd really like to hear your argument, because I can't come up with one.
Can you be feminine and be an athlete? YES. Can you be sexy and be a female athlete? YES. I'd like to think that that's true because there are many different definitions of beauty out there. But do we need "likes" to prove it? We shouldn't, but at lot of times we do. I like to take candid pictures of people, myself included, because I think it captures something that a posed and planned picture cannot. I find beauty in a 45 year old woman doing pullup after pullup unassisted. And sometimes some skin is showing, and that's ok. She's working hard, she's in the moment, and it's beautiful. (you can see how opinions on this can vary from person to person, and that line can become a little fuzzy).
Can I tell you exactly where that line is? No. But I do remember to ask myself my motives before I post something, and I think it's something a lot of women could benefit from.
I was speaking to a friend about this recently. He made a point that successful athletes (i.e. Olympians) have sponsors and visibility and a brand, without the need to bring sex into the equation. Then he asked me "you don't want to take the easy way out, right?"
Right.
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