womyn weight training, male approval

[of_the_trees]

The response from some men I've told about my weight training has been less than lovely. One, who is a good friend and normally very supportive when I'm excited about something, didn't say very much at all. Another, who was pretty much my best friend on PLQ, told me "Don't lift too heavy, you don't want to lose your curves (they're sexy)", and that

Comments

oh vanity.

[of_the_trees]

"even from a lara croft perspective"
yeah, I'd rather be objectified than considered unattractive. oh vanity.

I've never played or watched Tomb Raider, but the history of Lara is interesting

[of_the_trees]

"Some fans, as well as Lara's original designer Toby Gard, considered Croft's growing status as a sex symbol in the video game fandom through each progressive game sequel-with increasingly gratuitous artwork and advertisements-detrimental to the character,[15][16] who gained more attention from her appearance than her tough-as-nails spirit and determination. In response to this, it was stated that she would undergo a redesign and become more "demure" in Tomb Raider: Legend for the sake of becoming more appealing to female gamers.[17] However, some of the outfits she wears in this game are far more revealing than anything seen in previous games, with many of them showing cleavage and/or midriff (though some of the available outfits are fairly modest).

"I just wish that when she was taken out of my hands they hadn't made her boobs so big."

-Toby Gard

[girlintheclouds]

"So why is it male opinions that jump into my head first?"

I think the reason why might be because men pretty much dictate what's attractive in our society, and they've been doing that for who knows how long now. It's hard to break out of something we're all subconsciously brainwashed into thinking.

I personally am not into big muscles on guys so I don't imagine I'd be big into muscles on womyn, but that's just a personal preference. My thing is steely-strong bodies vs. bulky-muscles. hee hee.

[of_the_trees]

I'm into the long, lean look too, which is how my body is more or less naturally. I don't want to "lift heavy" even when I'm not such a beginner, but I just hated that they thought they could tell me what to do, how to look.

[girlintheclouds]

yeah, i agree that sucks.
it's almost like someone telling someone else how to cut their hair or how to dress based on the other person's biases.

[bareftinthesnow]

It's odd, I feel more pressured on that front by society in general, even though IME it's men who stare and do the harassing. I'm not sure I'd get anywhere by analyzing that. Maybe it's because when I see commercials for beauty products on tv, the voice over is generally female. Or, maybe it's just easier for me to frame the source of pressure as an abstract concept than as actual individuals who hold judgements.

Tuning it out feels good, tho.

[of_the_trees]

I think that I tend to discredit the opinions of women more easily than those of men. Some of it is patriarchal structures engraved in my head, giving men's opinions more weight than women's. Some of it is the slight sense of masculine identity I feel, where I want the slight masculinity in me to be awknowledged by men, I want to be part of their group in some way without being questioned.

just tuning it all out sure does feel good... but I've gotta find a sense of identity and belonging somewhere, end up looking in the wrong places with the wrong people sometimes.

[bareftinthesnow]

Some of it is the slight sense of masculine identity I feel, where I want the slight masculinity in me to be awknowledged by men...

I'm going to chew on that for a while. It's a complex sentiment, but maybe it's true for me also?

[anonymous]

I think you would like this: http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/

She also explains somewhere that there is a misconception that lifting heavy will make a woman look like a man. That's not possible without drugs.